History of Zionism : 1600-1918
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HISTORY OF ZIONISM
1600-1918
CL^i^^’^y,^ •^ •• ri
/hiroM EhMON’D //f RoTHSCHII.!)
HV
.1/. AlME MORO
ory of Zionism
I600-I9I8
BY
NAHUM SOKOLOW
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
THE RT HON- A, J, BALFOUR, M.P.
AND NINETY PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
SELECTED AND ARRANGED BY ISRAEL SOLOMONS
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL 11.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
M. STEPHEN PICHON
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS FOR FRANCE
LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO,
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
FOURTH AVENUE \ish People
Declarations of the Entente Governments
42
54
58
79
83
99
124
127
APPENDICES—
I. The Prophets and the Idea of a National Restoration 161
II. Rev. Paul Knell : Israel and England Paralleled . 168
III. Matthew Arnold on Righteousness in the Old Testa-
ment …….. 169
IV. ” Esperan9a de Israel,” by Manasseh Ben-Israel 169
V. ” Spes Israelis,” by Manasseh Ben-Israel . . 171
VI. “Hope of Israel — Ten Tribes … in America —
7X11?* nipD — De Hoop Van Israel,” by Manasseh
Ben-Israel ……. 171
VII. The Humble Addresses of Manasseh Ben-Israel. . 173
VIII. ” Vindiciae Judaeorum,” by Manasseh Ben-Israel . 173
IX. Ensefia A Pecadores . . . . . .173
X. ” De Termino Vitae — of the Term of Life,” by Manasseh
Ben-Israel . . . . . . -174
XI. ” D^*n riDK’J — De Immortalitate Animae,” by Man-
asseh Ben-Israel . . . . . 175
XII. ” Rights of the Kingdom,” by John Sadler . .176
XIII. ” Nova Solyma,” edited by the Rev. Walter Begley . 176
XIV. ” Praeadamitae — Men before Adam,” by Isaac de La
Peyrdre …….. 180
XV. Isaac Vossius ……. 180
XVI. ” Doomes-Day “……. 181
XVII. ” Restauration of ^// Israel /lM(i Judah ” . . . 182
XVI II. ” Apology for the Honorable Nation of the Jews —
Apologia por la Noble Nacion de los Ivdios —
Verantwoordinge voor de edele Volcken der
Jooden,” by Edward Nicholas . . . .182
XIX. ” A Word for the Annie,” by Hugh Peters . . 183
XX. Isaac da Fonseca Aboab …… 183
XXI. Dr. Abraham Zacutus Lusitanus . .184
XXU. Jacob Judah Aryeh de Leon 185
XXIU. Thesouro Dos Dinim 188
XXIV. ” Rettung der Juden,” by Manasseh Ben-Israel . .189
XXV. Newes from Rome 191
XXVI. “The World’s Great Restauration.” by Sir Henry
Finch …….. 207
XXVII. ” The World’s Great Restauration ” — continued 208
XXVIII. Philip Ferdinandus 209
XXIX. Petition of the Jewes Johanna and Ebenezer Cart (en)
(w)right 210
XXX. ‘ The Messiah Already Come,” by John Harrison 210
CONTENTS
Xlll
XXXI. ” Discourse of Mr. John Dury to Mr. Thorowgood —
Jewes in America,” by Tho. Thorowgood —
“Americans no Jews,” by Hamon I’Estrange . 211
XXXII. ” Whether it be Lawful to Admit Jews into a Chris-
tian Commonwealth,” by John Dury . . .212
XXXIII. ” Life and Death of Henry Jessey ” . . . .212
XXXIV. ” The Glory of Jehudah and Israel— De Heerlichkeydt
. . . van Jehuda en Israel,” by Henry Jesse . 214
XXXV. Of the Late Proceeds at White-Hall, concerning the
Jews (Henry Jesse) . . . . . .215
XXXVI. Bishop Thomas Newton and the Restoration of Israel 216
XXXVII, ” A Call to the Christians and the Hebrews ” . .217
XXXVIII. The Centenary of the British and Foreign Bible
Society …….. 218
XXXIX. Lord Kitchener and the Palestine Exploration Fund 219
XL. Bonaparte’s Call to the Jews ….. 220
XLI. Letter addressed by a Jew to his Co-religionists in 1798 220
XLII. ” Transactions of the Parisian Sanhedrim,” by Diogene
Tama …….. 222
XLIII. ” Signs of the Times ” — ” A Word in Season ” —
” Commotions since French Revolution ” — ” His-
tory of Christianity ” — ” The German Empire ” —
” Fulfilment of Prophecy,” by Rev. James Bicheno 223
XLIV. ” Restoration of the Jews ” — ” Friendly Address to
the Jews,” by the Rev. James Bicheno — “Letter
to Mr. Bicheno,” by David Levi …. 223
XLV. ” Attempt to Remove Prejudices Concerning the
Jewish Nation,” by Thomas Witherby . . 225
XLVI. ” Observations on Mr. Bicheno’s Book,” by Thomas
Witherby …….. 225
XLVII. ” Letters to the Jews,” by Joseph Priestley . . 225
XL VIII. ” An Address to the Jews on the Present State of the
World,” by Joseph Priestley …. 226
XLIX. ” Letters to Dr. Priestley,” by David Levi , . 226
L. “A Famous Passover Melody,” by the Rev. F. L.
Cohen …….. 227
LI. ” Reminiscences of Lord Byron . . . Poetry, etc., of
Lady Caroline Lamb,” by Isaac Nathan . . 228
LII. ” Selection of Hebrew Melodies,” by John Braham
and Isaac Nathan …… 228
LIII. Earl of Shaftesbury’s Zionist Memorandum — Scheme
for the Colonisation of Palestine . . . .229
LIV. Restoration of the Jews . . . . . .231
LV. Another Zionist Memorandum — Restoration of the
Jews …….. 236
LVI. Extracts from Autograph and other Letters between
Sir Moses Montefiore and Dr. N. M. Adler . . 237
LVII. The Final Exodus ……. 245
LVIII. Disraeli and the Purchase of the Suez Canal Shares . 246
LIX. Cyprus and Palestine …… 247
LX. Disraeli and Heine ……. 248
LXI. Disraeli’s Defence of the Jews ….. 249
LXII. A Hebrew Address to Queen Victoria (1849) . . 250
LXIII. An Appeal by Ernest Laharanne (i860) . . . 251
xiv THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
PAGB
LXIV. Statistics of the Holy Land 252
LXV. An Open Letter of Rabbi Chajryim Zebi Sneersohn of
Jerusalem (1863) …… 253
LXVI. The Tragedy of a Minority, as seen by an English
Jewish Publicist (1863) ….. 255
LXVII. London Hebrew Society for the Colonization of the
Holy Land . . . . . . .256
LXVIII. An Open Letter of Henri Dunant (1866) . . .259
LXIX. An Appeal of Rabbi Elias Gutmacher and Rabbi
Hirsch Kalischer to the Jews of England {1867) 262
LXX. Alexandre Dumas (fils) and Zionism . . . 263
LXXI. Appeal of Dunant ‘s Association for the Colonisation
of Palestine (1867) …… 265
LXXII. Edward Cazalet’s Zionist Views . . . .267
LXXIII. A Collection of Opinions of English Christian Authori-
ties on the Colonization of Palestine . . .269
LXXIV. Petition to the Sultan 279
LXXV. (i) Chovevd Zion and Zionist Workers . . . 281
(2) Modem Hebrew Literature ….. 309
LXXVL Note upon the Alliance Israelite Universelle and the
Anglo- Jewish Association . . . . .318
LXXVIL An Appeal of the Berlin Kadima …. 325
LXXVIII. The Jewish Colonies in Palestine . . . 326
LXXIX. The Manifesto of the Bilu (1882) . . . .332
LXXX. Zionism and Jewish Art …… 333
LXXXI. Progress of Zionism in the West since 1897 . -347
LXXXIL The Institutions of Zionism 358
LXXXIII. David Wolffsohn’s Autobiography . . . .388
LXXXI V. Some English Press Comments on the London Zionist
Congress (1900) ……. 389
LXXXV. Colonel Conder on the Value of the Jewish National
Movement (1903) …… 391
LXXX VI. Lord Gwydyr on Zionism and the Arabs . . . 392
LXXXVII. Consular Reports 395
LXXX VII I. ” Advent of the Millennium ” (Moore) . . . 399
LXXXI X. Cremieux’s Circular to the Jews in Western Europe . 400
XC. ” The Banner of the Jews ” (Emma Lazarus) . . 400
XCI. ” The Advanced Guard ” 401
ADDENDA 403-425
CORRIGENDA 426-427
CATALOGUE OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS . . . 429-447
BOOKS CONSULTED 449-460
INDEX 461
ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. II.
Baron Edmond de Rothschild
LiEUT.-CoL. Sir Mark Sykes, Bart, M.P.
Rt. Hon. Arthur J. Balfour, M.P.
Gen. Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby
M. S. J. M. PiCHON .
M. Jules Cambon .
H.E. Paolo Boselli
H.E. Baron Sidney Sonnino
M. A. F. J. Ribot .
M. G. E. B. Clemenceau
President Thomas Woodrow Wilson
Rt. Hon. David Lloyd George, M.P.
Laying Foundation Stone of the Hebrew University
Jerusalem
The Kattowitz Conference, 5644=1884 .
Frontispiece
Facimr p. Xvii
82
84
128
128
128
128
128
128
130
132
144
288
Leopold Pilicfunuski. tqi8
LieuLCol. Sir Mark Sykk?, Bart., M.P.
SIR MARK SYKES, BART., M.P.
(A TRIBUTE)
A MOST tragic event took place on the i6th of February,
1919, when the world lost one of the most valiant champions
of Zionism, namely Sir Mark Sykes, Bart., M.P. He fell
like a hero in the thick of the fight ; he was suddenly
extinguished, as it were a torch in full blaze. He stood
towering above the crowd of sceptics and grumblers, viewing
the promised land as from Pisgah’s height, his clear eye
fixed on Zion. He was at once a sage and a warrior, a knight
in the service of the sacred spirit of the national idea
without fear or reproach, whom nothing could overcome
but the doom of sudden and premature death. Sir Mark
Sykes was but forty years old, physically a giant, a
picture of perfect manhood, full of youthful vigour, a
soldier and a poet, a fervid patriot and a kindly and self-
sacrificing friend of humanity. He was one of the born
representatives of that tradition which for centuries has
inseparably united the genius of Great Britain with the
Zionist ideal of the Jewish people. In him appeared to be
harmoniously united the soaring imagination of Byron, the
deep mysticism of Thomas Moore, the religious zeal of
Cardinal Manning and the statesmanly and wide outlook
of Disraeli.
The germs of Sykes’ Zionism lay latent in him in his
earliest years. He was scarcely eight years old when his
father took him for the first time to Jerusalem. He often
related how when many years later he visited a certain spot
in Palestine, an elderly Arab told him that years before an
English gentleman had been there with a little boy, leaving
behind him kindly memories. His father, a wealthy land-
owner in Yorkshire, was one of the principal churchbuilders
in England of his time. He was a gentleman of the
old style, a protector of the poor, fired with religious
enthusiasm, who devoted untiring labour to the manage-
ment of his family estate. Every foot of this extensive
xviii THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
family estate with its churches and schools, its country
houses and old and new farms and dwellings, with its
great collections and its old and valuable library, bears
the impress not only of marked diligence and refined taste,
but also of an unusual sense of continuity and tradition.
Long before the traveller from Hull reaches the estate, a
high and slender tower strikes his eye. It is the monument
that has been erected in memory of the grandfather, the
old squire, an original character about whom Sir Mark was
wont to tell so many amusing stories. Long after the intro-
duction of railways he used to ride his steed to London, and
on the way often used to stop, take the hammer from the
navvies who were breaking road-metal, and perform their
work for them for hours at a time. Now his statue is to be
seen in a chapel-like recess crowned with a high tower on one
of the main roads of the estate. His son. Sir Mark’s father,
was not less of an original character. He had nothing of
the tradition of feudal lords — the family was descended
from an old and very rich shipbuilding family in Hull
which flourished in the i6th century, had by the 17th
century gained a great reputation, and later had business
relations with Peter the Great — but he rather repre-
sented the type of a fanciful Maecenas, whose hobby
it was constantly to remodel buildings or to erect new
ones. His ancestors had built ships, he built houses.
That amounted to a passion in him, a noble passion, a
desire to build, endow and found. And as he was
very reUgious he built churches. He also travelled widely
and gathered large collections in his country house. His
religion was nominally High Church, but he must have
had strong leanings towards Catholicism. His wife, the
mother of Sir Mark, was an ardent Catholic. Sir Mark was
attached to his mother, and was brought up in the Catholic
faith. On his mother’s side Sir Mark had a decided strain
of Irish blood, but the English type was predominant in
him. His features, however, were of extraordinary gentle-
ness, his eyes large and clear blue in colour, and a wisp of
hair would often fall over his brow. He was an Enghsh
Catholic and cherished in his heart the memory of the not
so far distant time when CathoHcs were persecuted, and
restricted in their civil rights. He was a CathoHc in a coun-
try where the Catholics constitute a small and weak minority,
and often he remarked to me that it was his Catholicism
that enabled him to understand the tragedy of the Jewish
SIR MARK SYKES xix
question, since not so long since Catholics had to suffer
much in England. His Catholicism did not make him
fanatical ; it made him rather cosmopolitan, that is to say,
catholic in the pure sense of the word. He received an ex-
ceptionally careful education and studied hard in Catholic
schools before he took his course at Cambridge. The fact
that in his early youth he had Jesuit priests among his
teachers was often exploited by those who envied him, in
a sense which suggested a leaning in him towards Jesuitism.
If the term Jesuitism be taken to mean a zeal for Catholi-
cism, then there can be no doubt that this assertion is correct,
since Sir Mark was certainly very religious. But if this
expression be taken in the customary sense, namely, as
equivalent to clerical intrigue, hypocrisy and spiteful hate
of other religions, nothing was more remote from the
character, the mental outlook and all other attributes of
Sir Mark than such a form of Jesuitism. He was incapable
equally of dissembling or of servile conduct ; he was proud
without being arrogant, and was severe and inflexible when
truth was at stake. His soul was an open book ; he troubled
himself neither of career nor of popularity. He possessed
an ideal, and this ideal was the sole test of all his thought
and actions. At heart he was pious, a good Christian and
a good Catholic : he never prided himself upon his faith,
which was a sacred thing to him : religious boast and pro-
paganda were alike foreign to him : his relations with God
were an intimate personal matter which concerned no
stranger ; but his faith was the moving force of his life
which afforded him courage to go forward and strength to
endure and to deny himself.
When I was with Sir Mark in Hull, where we came
to speak at a great Zionist meeting last summer, the
member for Hull disappeared from my sight for several
hours on one occasion. I presumed that he had gone to
the old Catholic cathedral to attend a service as he fre-
quently did. On returning he told me that he had visited
his old teachers, the Jesuit fathers, and that he had con-
vinced them that it was the duty of Christians to atone for
the crime that humanity has not ceased for many centuries
to commit against the Jewish people in withholding their
old native country from them. ” This was not so difficult,”
he added, ” as one of these fathers is an avowed friend of
the Jewish people. When, some years ago, a protest meet-
ing was held in Hull against the Beilis trial (the trumped-up
XX THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
story of ritual murder that had emanated in Kiev from the
Russian anti-Semites), this priest had appeared on the plat-
form to declare in the name of his religion that the perse-
cutions of the Jews that took place in Russia under the old
regime were a blot upon civihsation.” The meeting which
was to be held that same day was to be attended by Jews
and Christians equally. He said with a humorous smile
that his success with the fathers made him hope for equal
success with the whole Christian audience at that meeting.
‘* Perhaps people find fault with me,” he continued, ” that
I have neglected their local affairs. A member for Hull
who gives all his time to Zionism may be rather a puzzle to
the good people of Hull, but I think I shall manage them —
will you be responsible for the Jews ? ” I replied, ” Very
well, I shall be responsible for the Jews, but only with your
help ; the Jews are more impressed by an English baronet
who is a Christian than by a fellow Jew like me.” ” It is
to be regretted,” he said somewhat sadly, ” that the Jews
rather than follow leaders of their own race bow and scrape
to Gentiles. How do you explain that ? ” I answered :
” That is the spirit of the Exile, that can be combated only
by means of Zionism.”
The meeting was most successful. There never had been
such a Zionist triumph in Hull. The enthusiasm was shared
by both the Christian representatives and the Jewish popu-
lation, the latter but recently arrived for the most part from
Eastern Europe. There was only one discordant note in
the speeches, and that probably escaped the notice of most
of those present, and did not detract in the least from
the success of the meeting ; this was an utterance that
offended Sir Mark’s religious sentiment. “It is natural,”
someone said, ” for Sir Mark to be a friend of the Jews as he
is such a good Christian, and must be conscious of the fact
that the founder of Christianity belonged to the Jewish
race ; moreover. Sir Mark as a Catholic venerates the Holy
Mother who was as we know a daughter of the Jewish
people.” This utterance pained Sir Mark and hurt me very
much. I afterwards had long talks with Sir Mark about
this tactlessness, which could only have been committed
by a quasi-assimilated Jew. The speaker may have meant
it well, but a Zionist could never have made such a mistake,
for to be a Zionist, means not only to desire immediate
emigration to Palestine, but also to maintain the proper
practical attitude to the non- Jewish world. This attitude
SIR MARK SYKES xxi
is one neither of servility nor of arrogance, it is one of digni-
fied yet modest and noble self-consciousness, self-respect
and respect for others.
In order to understand the attitude of such as Sir Mark
and others like him in his own and other nations, towards
the Jewish problem, it is necessary to study the problem
more closely than is common among the unthinking crowd
who bandy about the words anti-Semitism and philo-
Semilism, and, upon their superficial observations, condemn
one man as an anti-Semite and laud another as a philo-
Semite, according as whether they hate or love certain
individual Jews. The crowd does not understand that one
can be a great friend of the Jewish people and a great admirer
of the Jewish genius and yet find such things ridiculous
and repulsive as the apeing, the servihty, the obtrusiveness,
the hollowness and the empty display, the desire to intrude
everywhere, the excessive zeal of the neophytes and all the
unpleasant traits of some assimilated Jews. On the other
hand, one may approve of all these qualities and rejoice
that certain Jews have become rich, obtained titles or gained
high office in so far as one desires the assimilation of the
Jewish people and the extinction of the Jewish spirit.
Anti-Semitism is fractricidal in that it implies hatred and
contempt for, and the desire to persecute a whole race. It
is organised outrage, because it employs the brutal power
of a majority to insult a defenceless minority and to
deprive it of human rights. It is consciously calumnious
because it instigates malice against the Jewish people or
religion and exploits for this purpose actual weaknesses or
faiUngs belonging in reality to neither the race nor the
religion. It is biassed and sophistical because it generalises
from the faults of individuals and because it fixes itself
upon the mote in another’s eye without perceiving the beam
in its own.
Philo-Semitism in the true sense of the word resembles
philhellenism. The latter does not mean simply friendly
intercourse with parvenu Greeks, but sympathy for the
Hellenic people as such, and with the spirit of Hellenism
and an endeavour to aid these and to estabUsh them. Of
such a kind was the philo-Semitism of Sir Mark Sykes. I
will speak plainly, and do not hesitate to state that he had
no liking for the hybrid type of the assimilating Jew. He
had no wish to interfere with such people ; he emphatically
condemned any attempt at suppression of rights or chi-
xxii THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM .
caner}^ but he did not like this type just because he was fond
of the Jewish people. What was of the Jewish essence, of
the Jewish tradition, was sacred to his reUgious sense and
stimulating to his artistic sense. In this lay the secret, not
exactly of our personal success with Sykes (for our cause is
of too great an importance in the world’s history to be
connected with personaUties) but of the wonderful concord
of minds which was the natural outcome of his outlook
The opposite poles attracted each other with irresistible
force. Truly anglicised Jews could not have had the
hundredth part of the same success with him, not because
of their not being excellent patriots and capable men (for
such many of them incontestably are and Sykes was fond
of society and of making acquaintances and was amiable to
all), but for him there were real Englishmen enough. Con-
cerning EngUsh affairs, national questions and parliamentary
matters he would discourse with anglicised Jews on the
same footing as English non-Jews, but concerning the spirit
of Jewish history, the ethos of Hebraism, the national
sufferings and aspirations, that emerge only in national
Hebrew literature, in the large centres of Jewish population
in Eastern Europe and in the new settlements in Palestine
— concerning all these matters he would and could seek
information only from the fountain source. These are the
things that have succeeded with Sykes and others and that
will succeed further, not high diplomacy. There is no lack
of this latter at the Foreign Office, which swarms with great
diplomats, and it would be carrying coals to Newcastle
to seek to add more trained specialists to the crowd of busy
poUticians in Downing Street. There could be no success
with Sykes that way. He was, as it were, born to work with
us Hebrews for Zionism.
The spirit of the East breathed in this Yorkshire gentle-
man. In his earUest youth he showed a keen interest for
Arabia, for Islam and the Turkish Empire. At Cambridge
he studied Arabic under Professor E. G. Browne, and there
also he met the lady who was afterwards to be his wife and
true helpmeet, a daughter of Sir John Gorst, who was
at the time one of the members of parliament for the
University. In the year 1898 Sykes, then a young student,
undertook a second journey to the liast, and stayed much
of his time in the Hauran. He devoted himself with the
entire freshness and sincerity of his youth (he was then but
twenty years old) to his observations as a traveller. In the
SIR MARK SYKES xxiii
year 1900 appeared his first book, which recounts his im-
pressions in an elegant style and light form.^ In this book
he ascribes to his guide, a Christian Arab named Isa, the
following words apropos of the Jews there, that they were
” dirty like Rooshan and robber like Armenian.” ^ Sykes
himself had at that time no clear idea of Jews or of Ar-
menians — of the two peoples for whom he strove and died
nineteen years later. He cites an expression of opinion and
repeats it in the bad English of an Arab guide. After his
return from the East, he devoted his attention to military
studies, in which he distinguished himself. He served in the
South African War in 1900-2. He gave a proof of his
technical knowledge in his work on strategy and military
training which he had compiled in collaboration with Major
George d’Ordel.^ In the year 1904 he was travelling again,
and the literary product of his later and earlier journeys
was his second considerable book on Islam and the Orient. “^
This book is dedicated to his fellow-soldiers in the South
African War.^ In this work already speaks to us a young
but mature man who had travelled much in four continents
and had been through the South African Campaign. Here we
already perceive the fundamentals of his later Zionism.
As regards the future of the Orient he looks not to modern
civilisation and capitalism, but to the latent force of national
life. He was not deceived by the specious platitudes so
dear to that deplorable product of modern European
democracy ‘ the man in the street ‘ as to ‘ extending the
blessing of Western civilisation ‘ ; he regarded rather with
unconcealed apprehension the contingency of the Western
Asiatics becoming ‘ a prey to capitalists of Europe and
America,’ “in which case a designing Imperial Boss might,
untrammelled by the Government, reduce them to serfdom
for the purpose of filling his pockets and gaining the name
of Empire-maker.” (Prof. Browne’s Preface, Dar-ul-Islam,
p. iv). He had a great predilection for all national individu-
alities, and detested the desire to imitate and assimilate.
” He hated the hybrid Levantine . . . and faithfully
^ Through Five Turkish Provinces, by Mark Sykes. London, Bickers
and Son. 1900,
2 Ibid., p. 127.
3 Tactics and Military Training. By Major George d’Ordel and Captain
Mark Sykes. London. 1902.
* Dar-Ul-Islam. A record of a journey through Ten of the Asiatic
Provinces of Turkey. By Mark Sykes. London. 1904.
* ” The F Company, 3rd Batt. Princess of Wales’ Own Yorkshire
Regiment, who served in South Africa, 1900-2.”
xxiv THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
portrayed the Gosmopaleet (Cosmopolite) ” (ibid.). He
condemned interfering tutelage. ” Orientals hate to be
worried and hate to have their welfare attended to. . . .
Oppression they can bear with equanimity, but inter-
ference for their own good they never brook with grace ”
(ibid.). He shows a profound historic sense : “he does not
disguise his preference for countries with ‘ a past ‘ over
countries with ‘ a future ‘ ” (ibid.), and finds in the nature
of the Oriental the conditions for a true equality. *’ He
recognises the fact that there is more equality because less
snobbery and pretence in Asia than in Europe ” (ibid.). The
only feature that is wanting in this book is a knowledge
of Jews and of Zionism. He makes but once mention of
this matter, in a short sketch of the Jews at Nisibin. ” The
Jews at Nisibin . . . their appearance is much improved
by Oriental costume … in which they look noble and
dignified.” He then adds : “I trust that the Uganda
Zionists will adopt my suggestion ” (p. 141). One who
believes in the assimilation of the Jews may snobbishly
consider this also as anti-Semitic, but in fact it is only the
harmless joke of an artist, for Sykes was essentially an
artist. His drawings were excellent, he was also very musical,
and had a great predilection for all true individuality, for
the archaic, the original, the unadulterated, for race,
nationality, genius loci, for everything racy and natural,
and for everything that was not cliche, mechanical and
snippety.
This was the foundation of his latent Zionism. From
1904 to 191 1 he pursued his mihtary studies, managed his
estates and travelled much. In 1911 he entered Pariiament
as member for Hull. Although nominally a Tory, Sir Mark
was at bottom no party man, but a man of convictions.
Full of faith, greedy for work, energetic, confident, capable,
quick of study, charmed with a fight. Equally ready to
defend or attack, he was unselfish. Over the Irish question
he fell out with the Conservatives ; he was an outspoken
champion of Home Rule, and throughout his Hfe he remained
a loyal friend of Irish nationalism. His speeches soon made
him popular in Parliament ; they were never long and yet
never trite. He showed the same qualities in his letters to
the Press. He had always something to say, some original
thought which he expressed in his own individual style.
He told me once, how he had learned public speaking at
school. He had to prepare the outline of the speech and
SIR MARK SYKES
XXV
afterwards to state in short and simple terms the substance
of his speech. The latter, he added, was the more difficult
task, because a facile speaker can make long speeches, and
yet find it impossible to repeat later the essential facts
of his speeches. He was not a facile speaker in this sense ;
he never spoke quite extempore, but always prepared his
speeches carefully, often by means only of simple key words
or of a few pictures, resembling hieroglyphics, as, for example,
the sun with streaming rays. He never spoke to the gallery,
never flattered, never perverted the truth under the mask of
sincerity, and never sought to create effects. His speeches
were full of beauty and deep idealism with a breath of re-
ligious fervour, as he leant forward to address himself to
the hearts of his audience. This practical man was at
bottom a poet. He could tell most fascinating stories.
He had not been brought up in the chilling atmosphere of
severe Puritanism, but in the medieval glamour of Catholic
cathedrals and under the sun of the East. Yet he had
remained a proud and staunch Briton. He was a remark-
able and extremely unusual combination of a blue-eyed,
simple and modest Englishman of childlike sweetness, and
of a medieval knight full of Oriental reminiscences, with
ardent faith and picturesque imagination. We loved him
and he loved us, because his nature was gentle, kind and
sympathetic. He chatted freely: he told all about his
enthusiasms, his ” castles in the air,” his stories about
dervishes, his travelling impressions, with a lively dramatic
touch with appropriate gesture and expression, often draw-
ing his round, brown stylo pen from his pocket in order to
explain the matter more pointedly by means of a rapid
sketch. How often I regretted that no shorthand writer
was present. His ways were dignified and courteous, his
modesty so natural and so frank that he gave the impression
of being himself unconscious of it. When the talk took a
jesting turn, there was no sting in his witticisms, his jests
were easy and never offensive. When he was angered,
his emotion lasted but a few seconds, and afterwards he was
as light-hearted as a child.
Such was the Mark Sykes of 1914 when the War broke
out. He took up his part in the War with all his
patriotism and with his idealistic faith in the victory
of justice. In 1915 he was with his regiment busy in
hard training and ready for the field. He often told me
how it had come to pass that the East had become his
xxvi THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
sphere of action. One day Lord Kitchener said to him :
” Sykes, what are you doing in France, you must go to the
East/’ ” What am I to do there ? ” asked Sykes. ” Just
go there and then come back,” was Lord Kitchener’s answer.
Sykes travelled to the East, made his way through accessible
and inaccessible districts, and came back. His observations
and experiences constituted the material upon which all the
great things that afterwards happened were based. He
then voluntarily entered the service of the Government
as expert, as adviser, and as draughtsman of their poHcy.
He was one of the pioneers of the new British War Policy
in the East, one of the protagonists of the ” Eastern School.”
In the year 191 6 he undertook with M. Georges Picot a
journey to Russia. It was then the Czarist Russia with its
eye fixed upon Constantinople ; that was the occasion upon
which the so-called Sykes-Picot agreement was signed.
From the standpoint of Zionist interests in Palestine this
agreement justly met with severe criticism ; but it was
Sykes himself who criticised it most sharply and who with
the change of circumstances dissociated himself from it
entirely. It was a product of the time, a time when there
was as yet no decided plan formed of launching a definite
campaign in the East, when the prime necessity was some
sort of agreement, since otherwise no progress would have
been made. This was long before Mr. Balfour’s declaration,
and since at this time the Zionist interests in Palestine had
as yet received no attention because they were unknown
and not debatable, and also as it was essential to come to
terms about Constantinople with the old regime in Russia,
this agreement was a necessary prelude to action. This
agreement Sykes regarded later as an anachronism.
Zionism had been at work in England for two full years
without its coming to know anything of Sykes, who himself
worked on his own lines for a year and a half, without know-
ing anything of Zionist organisation or a definite programme
of Zionism. What happened resembled the construction
of a tunnel begun at two sides at once. As the workers on
each side approach one another they can hear the sound
of blows through the earth. It seems at first a strange
enough story ; a certain Sir Mark appears, he makes some
enquiries, and then expresses a wish to meet the Zionist
leaders. Finally a meeting actually takes place and dis-
cussions are entered upon. Sir Mark showed a keen interest
and wanted to know the aims of the Zionist Organisation,
SIR MARK SYKES
XXVll
and who were its representatives. The idea assumed a
concrete form ; but this acquaintance, however, valuable as
it was, had as yet no practical significance. Acquaintance-
ships were made and discussions took place during the years
1914-16 by the hundred with influential people and with
some who had more voice in affairs than Sir Mark ever had.
They constituted certainly a most important introductory
chapter, and one without which the book itself could not
have been written, but they were naturally fragmentary,
preliminary, without cohesion and without sanction. The
work itself began only after the 7th of February, 1917.
The subsequent chapters describe this work in general
outlines. A thousand details remain for the pen of some
future historian, when the time comes for the archives of
the Foreign Office, of the Ministries for Foreign Affairs of
the other Entente Powers, and of the political offices of the
Zionist Organisation in London and Paris to be made public.
In the whole proceedings there are no secret treaties, no
secret diplomacy, in fact neither diplomacy nor conspiracy ;
but they constitute a series of negotiations, schemes,
suggestions, explanations, measures, journeys, conferences,
etc., to which each of those who took a part gave something
of the best in himself.
It is my duty both as historian and as one who took
an active part in these negotiations and proceedings to
record here that Sir Mark Sykes really gave of his best
to this work. For more than two wonderful years we were
in daily intercourse with him. Our friendship was of the
most intimate We shared in common all the delights
and disappointments arising from the Zionist work. We
instructed each other ; he furnished his knowledge of the
East, his profound understanding of the guiding political
principles of Great Britain, his personal observations with
reference to the possibilities of bringing our aims into
harmony with the ideals of the Entente ; we supplied
Zionism, inspired by Jewish sufferings and hopes. It was
not difficult for us to convince him what an excellent cultural
type the Hebrew represents, since already in his youth,
before he had the shghtest idea of Jews and Zionism, he
had intuitively perceived that the hybrid Levantine is
hopeless in that direction. The idea was latent in him,
and but awaited stimulus and direction into the proper
channel. He was ready to understand what a great natural
force the Jewish genius could be in the reawakening of
xxviii THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Palestine, all the more because long before as a man of
extraordinarily high culture — English to the last fibre of
his thought, saturated with EngUsh tradition, EngHsh
literature and EngUsh taste — and yet at the same time a
broad-minded humanist, with great ideals not only for his
own nation but for all other nations and races, he had seen
that the ‘ civihsing ‘ of the East by assimilation was idle
and superficial prating and a vain delusion. Deep sympathy
of ideals had earlier formed an unconscious bond between
us. When this sympathy ripened into consciousness through
our meeting and soon after the commencement of our
common work, the resulting harmony was not one of policy
but one of outlook. The idea of a natural alliance between
Jews, Arabs and Armenians as peoples of the Near East
developed into something quite distinct and found in Sir
Mark a convinced champion. He was an enthusiastic pro-
tagonist of the Jewish national renaissance in Palestine,
an admirer of the Hebrew genius, who could not hear enough
from me about national Hebrew literature, who took an
interest in every detail of Jewish culture. At the same time
he was a sincere friend of the Arabs and Armenians and
made strenuous efforts to secure their liberation. We all
worked together with him in this direction, but the main
idea was his and remained his favourite project till the close
of his Ufe. Many superficial and petty individuals in our
own ranks, who, not reahsing the great and difiicult task
and themselves taking no active part, busied themselves in
spreading distrust and discontent, complained that Sykes
was too much taken up with the Arabs. I am sure that
among many Arabs of the same degree of political maturity
Sykes was accused of being too much taken up by the Jews.
Our interchange of ideas resulted in a complete fusion of
thought. But Sykes gave us his time and labour as well as
ideas. It seemed as though in these two years his whole
life’s energy reached its culminating point and spent itself.
He worked at constant high pressure. But rarely he
allowed himself a week-end in Sledmore with Lady Sykes
and the children, and even there he was never idle. It
was a constant round of church-going, of devotion to the
estate and building repairs, of musicians, old French songs,
and of hospitality. Holidays were out of the question.
All his excursions were connected with poUtical or ParUa-
mentary business. Even prior to the commencement of
his official connection with Zionism, Sir Mark was a man of
SIR MARK SYKES xxix
extraordinarily wide activities. When on the 8th of
February, 1917, one day after the first official meeting,
our work began with the first conference with M. Georges
Picot at Sir Mark’s private house, No. 9 Buckingham
Gate, the latter place had already become an important
centre for matters concerning the new and at that time
scarcely completed plan of a kingdom of the Hedjaz, con-
cerning Armenia and Mesopotamia, and was equipped with
all such material as files of correspondence and telegraphic
communications, etc. It was then that Zionism took its
place in the system and came to dominate the situation
more and more as our labours progressed. One was liable
to be called upon at any moment, early in the morning or
late at night. It became a joke with us to name his sudden
telephone calls ‘ brain-storms.’ Sir Mark had a ‘ brain-
storm * which meant : danger in sight. This may appear as
somewhat far-fetched to outsiders, but those who were in the
thick of the work knew well what formidable obstacles stood
in the way, and how well founded were Sir Mark’s doubts
and fears. At every moment dangers had to be guarded
against ; there were elements that were in favour of the status
quo ante in the Near East ; vested economic interests that
desired to uphold this status quo for their own ends ; clerical,
anti-Semitic and pan-Islamitic propaganda ; certain Arab
sections that opposed Zionism because, obsessed by fana-
ticism or misled by agitators or influenced by narrow and
short-sighted considerations of the needs of the moment,
they had no proper appreciation of the great idea of a
Hebrew-Arabic national alliance ; intrigues of certain
Syrian concession-hunters who stormed with a ‘ holy
wrath ‘ against the Zionist idea ; certain factions in England
that would have nothing to do with an energetic policy in
the East, and indeed ridiculed and belittled the impor-
tance of British interests in that region ; a by no means
small party that warned England against undertaking any
new engagements ; and finally, be it mentioned with regret,
our Jewish circles of the assimilating school. The cause of
Zionism was in the same dire case as Laocoon in the grip
of snakes. Every day brought a fresh indication of some
hostile movement, a new suspicion of enemy schemes each
of which caused Sir Mark to sound a warning. These were
the ‘ brain-storms.’
I should like to record a few impressions of different
occasions. The first was a day in April, 1917, in Paris. I
XXX THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
was due at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to give informa-
tion about Zionism. Sir Mark also came ; he was a sincere
friend of France and was anxious that Zionism should have
the same appreciation in France as in England. He came in
great haste by motor from the Front, where he had been
making a visit, and went to the Hotel Lotti. He arrived
early in the morning after a tiring night’s journey. At that
time Doctor Weizmann was fully occupied with most im-
portant affairs in England. It fell to me to begin the official
work in France, after we had together prepared all our plans.
Sykes was impatient : in spite of his complete confidence
in us, he could not refrain from remaining near me, always
ready with advice and help. We worked together for some
hours. I departed on my mission and we arranged for him
to wait for me at the hotel. But as I was crossing the Quai
d’Orsay on my return from the Foreign Office I came across
Sykes. He had not had the patience to wait. We walked
on together, and I gave him an outline of the proceedings.
This did not satisfy him ; he studied every detail ; I had
to give him full notes and he drew up a minute report.
” That’s a good day’s work,” he said with shining eyes, p”
The second was a day in April, 1917, in Rome. Sykes had
been there before me and could not wait my arrival. He
had gone to the East. I put up at the hotel : Sykes had
ordered rooms for me. I went to the British Embassy ;
letters and instructions from Sykes were waiting for me there
I went to the Italian Government Offices ; Sykes had been
there too ; then to the Vatican, where Sykes had again
prepared my way. It seemed to me as if his presence was
wherever I went, but all the time he was far away in
Arabia, whence I received telegraphic messages.
The third was at the London Opera House Meeting of
the 2nd of December, 1917. It was a truly brilliant gather-
ing in a packed house, a festive token of the bond of
brotherhood between Great Britain and ancient Israel.
Sykes modestly surveyed the assembly. The majority
of the audience scarcely knew him, and only a few were
aware that this was a great day in his life. When he
began to speak the audience recognised that one was
addressing them who had made Zionism a part of his life.
He showed no flaring enthusiasm, but rather a quiet elation, a
devotion to the subject. On leaving, he and I shook hands —
no words were necessary because we understood each other.
The fourth was a mass meeting at the end of December
I
SIR MARK SYKES xxxi
in Manchester. In the morning there had been a small
gathering with Sykes, and before the meeting a banquet in
honour of Mr. C. P. Scott. The meeting itself was one of the
largest that ever was held in Manchester. Sir Stuart Samuel
was in the chair. Doctor Weizmann made one of his most
brilliant speeches, and Mr. James de Rothschild roused the
audience to enthusiasm. Then Sykes rose, and made a
speech full of the dreamy poetry of an Eastern tale. The
audience felt itself transported into another and better
world. The poetry of the East diffused itself as a softening
charm over the hard-cut hues of high pohtical argument.
After the meeting we sat down, tired out, to tea. Sykes
hurried in in his rain-coat : he had no time to stay, as he had
to catch the night train. He was due in London next morn-
ing to send urgent telegrams to Palestine.
The fifth was on a glorious June day in 191 8 en route
from Paris to London. Sykes insisted on my travelling
with him. He was in company with a distinguished party
containing nearly all the members of the Government.
As there was no time to complete the passport formalities,
he simply attached me to himself personally. I felt em-
barrassed and accepted his proposal with reluctance. But
when he told me that it was necessary to remind people
constantly of the Declaration, I made up my mind to venture
flying if he should think it necessary. The journey almost
assumed the form of a Zionist meeting. There were twenty-
eight persons in all, the most prominent members of the
Government. On deck the Prime Minister was talking
with Jellicoe. The tall and imposing figure of Mr. Balfour,
with his noble grey-haired head and the well-known small
hat, stood above the rest. Sykes urged me to have a word
with the Prime Minister. I seized the opportunity and in
the course of our conversation I had from him the treasured
words : that such a war as this would be in vain if we did
not aim at succouring all peoples, the Zionist Jews included.
I afterwards told this to Sykes, who was at the other end of
the ship, but he knew already. *’ How, by an indiscretion ? ”
” No, a favourable wind whispered it to me.” The * Favour-
able Wind ‘ was one of the company who had overheard
the conversation.
Sir Mark’s work during the last few years falls into eight
successive periods, (i) February-March, 1917, the colla-
boration in London with M. Picot, and after the latter’s
departure for France, with us ; (2) March-June, 1917,
xxxii THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
our journey to Paris ; his journey to Egypt ; (3) June-
November, 1917, preliminary work leading to the Balfour
Declaration ; (4) November, 1917-March 1918, from the
Declaration to the despatch of the Commission to Palestine ;
(5) March-October, 1918, the work in London during the
stay of the Commission in Palestine ; (6) October-Decem-
ber, 1918, the work after the return of the Commission ;
(7) December 1918-February, 1919, the journey to Syria,
and (8) February, 1919, the last days in Paris.
In the first period the foundations were laid ; at that time
Sir Mark was, so to speak, introduced into the world of
Zionist ideas. The second was full of active negotiations
with the Entente Governments. During the third Sykes
was in busy relations with a number of the friends of our
cause. In this period the work of Major Ormsby-Gore was
of practically the same importance, as also during the fourth
period. In the fifth period, during the time of the important
work in Palestine of the Commission under the leadership
of Doctor Weizmann, Major Ormsby-Gore was of great
service there. The whole of the labours in London connected
with the activity of the Commission and with a thousand
other matters relating to Zionism fell upon Sykes, and neces-
sitated daily work of an intensely difficult character.
To this period belong a number of most important
measures which for the first time gave Zionism both inter-
nally and externally its proper position and its necessary
prestige. Sir Mark had at that time his office in two rooms,
afterwards partitioned into three, on the basement of the
back wing of the Foreign Office, connected with the upper
storeys by means of a lift, never used by Sir Mark, who
mounted the stairs about twenty times daily at a lightning
speed, which made it impossible for me to keep pace with him
in spite of my most strenuous efforts. The first large room
was dark because the big window was blocked with
sandbags as a protection against possible air raids; it
had long tables and was illuminated artificially. I had
to be there often and for long periods at a time:
my work, indeed, required my attendance there more
than at the Zionist offices, and sometimes I had to
go there three times a day and to remain there till late
at night. On one of these occasions Sir Mark said to
me, ‘* Does not this subterranean room look like a medieval
inquisition chamber, with those long tables upon which the
victims of the Inquisition might be stretched for torture ?
SIR MARK SYKES xxxiii
Who knows/’ added he humorously, ” whether some of your
forefathers had not to undergo treatment in chambers of
this kind ? ” I answered, ” Yes, as Scripture has it : * I
will make the desolate valley into a door of hope ‘ ” After
that we often used to call this room the ” Door of Hope.”
This room opened into another where Sir Mark spent whole
days at work except for the time at Westminster. The
duties of Secretary were most ably filled by Mr. Dunlop,
a young and energetic man ; opposite, in the building in
Whitehall Gardens, Sir Mark’s older colleague, the learned
and highly experienced Mr. Beck, worked in conjunction
with him. Between the two offices the faithful Serjeant
Wilson, who accompanied Sir Mark ever5rwhere on land and
sea, passed to and fro. It was like a hive ; there was a
constant coming and going of Foreign Office men, M.P.’s,
Armenian politicians, Mahommedan Mullahs, officers,
journalists, representatives of Syrian Committees, and
deputations from philanthropic societies. In the midst of
this busy world~Zionism maintained its prominent position.
Everything had to pass through Sykes’ hands. In order to
avoid confusion and divergence of effort he insisted upon
what was readily conceded him, namely that he should
pass an opinion on every question and every detail, and in
this there was no hesitation, no delay. Among many others
a couple of examples will suffice. The Oriental Jews, being
Turkish subjects, were under the law regarded as alien
enemies. They were certainly only technically such ; at
heart they were thoroughly pro-British and in any case
politically harmless. Exceptions had already been made on
the recommendations of personal standing, but no logical
plan was followed. I maintained that the Zionist Organisa-
tion should be officially empowered to protect the Jews
of Palestine and Syria, just as, for example, the Polish
Committee protected the Poles from Galicia, who were also
technically alien enemies. Sykes obtained this concession
after considerable labour. This was an official recognition
of the Zionist Organisation as competent authority. When
at the time of the most strenuous military efforts, the later
categories of the male population were called to the colours,
the Zionist Organisation in England was threatened with
losing the last of its secretaries, speakers, organisers, etc.,
and with seeing its activities restricted, if not completely
interrupted. None were more patriotic than the Zionists,
so many of whom were in the Army, but we had to deal
xxxiv THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
with a number of men who could be of no value to the Army,
and who, on the other hand, were indispensable to the
Zionist Organisation. Previously some had been left with
^ us, but now it was a question of large numbers. It was a
» generally recognised principle that people whose occupation
was of national importance were allowed to continue at it.
I insisted upon having this principle applied to Zionism.
This matter could not be settled by any single individual
or by any single tribunal. The question concerned a
matter of principle, and had nothing to do with individuals.
Since we had received the declaration of recognition from
the British Government and the whole Entente, and as we
had to prepare the field for the realisation of this declara-
tion, this ought surely to have been regarded as a matter
of national importance from the official standpoint. Sykes
adopted this point of view and made strenuous efforts to
have it realised. He was thoroughly convinced that our
loyalty to Great Britain and her Allies was boundless, and
that in all our demands the interests of both parties had
been considered with equal devotion. On the other hand,
we recognised that when he denied us something as inad-
missible, though like any other man he might sometimes
make mistakes, he was open to change of conviction upon
good reason being shown, and that any stand taken by him
against our proposals was due rather to the fact that he
regarded the matter at issue as unfavourable in certain
circumstances to Zionism, than that he had the interests
of Zionism less at heart than we ; thus a community of
effort and a mutual trust was established, which led to a
complete sohdarity of aims. In this way our work in con-
junction with Sykes became the foundation for our relations
with the higher Government authorities, as also with Sykes*
colleagues and successors.
The most important and poHtically difficult task that
had to be accompUshed in London during the stay
of the Commission in Palestine was to make possible
the official laying of the foundation stone of the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem. The recommendations and the
instructions carried by the President of the Commission,
Doctor Weizmann, to Palestine were most valuable, and
will stand as a lasting token of the generous and kindly
feehngs of the leading men in the British Government
towards Zionism. The influence of the Commission, the
excellence of their work, their splendid relations with the
SIR MARK SYKES xxxv
authorities had ensured complete success. Nevertheless it
was found that, particularly with reference to the founda-
tion-stone ceremony, the instructions had been of too
general and too vague a character to overcome the formal
and legal administrative obstacles. It is my duty to one
who is gone, to record the great services of Sir Mark in this
direction. It goes without saying that the final decision
lay with a man in higher ofhce. However, before Mr. Balfour
gave his decision and before the most detailed instructions
had been telegraphed, we had to work strenuously day after
day for several weeks, by correspondence and by interviews,
with such devotion and enthusiasm as only so magnificent an
object as the Hebrew University in Jerusalem could inspire.
During the period that followed, namely the sixth as
above described, the Zionist programme was being prepared.
The end of the War was in sight, but the cessation of hos-
tilities was not to be expected so very soon. Sykes decided,
then, the whole of Palestine and Syria being in British hands,
to travel thither to gather fresh information and to bring
the results of his latter observations to the Peace Conference.
I tried to dissuade him from this journey, because I thought
his presence in Europe important : he, on the other hand,
wanted me to go with him to Palestine. He finally went
alone and wrote to me from there that I should come without
delay. His stay in Palestine was, however, only a very short
one : he soon passed to Syria and did strenuous work in the
direction of restoring order in Aleppo. In the meantime the
Peace Conference opened here. We were all of us already
assembled — except Sykes. We thought of him every day.
One evening there was a telephone call. On taking up
the receiver I heard Sykes’ voice telling me that he had just
arrived in Paris, and was staying as usual at the Hotel
Lotti opposite us. I invited him at once to dinner, and he
came. He was the same lovable fellow, full of life and
humour, but now frightfully thin. He had lived the whole
time on ” German sausages” and had suffered much from
digestive troubles. It only transpired later, that he had
spent sixteen hours a day in Aleppo working under almost
impossible conditions on behalf of the Arabs and Armenians.
He was himself never in the habit of talking about his
work. It was two hours after midnight when he left
us, — he had so much to tell about the ordinary incapa-
city for proper administration of the local Syrian popula-
tion and their marked capacity in that direction under
xxxvi THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
suitable guidance, about the prospects for Palestine, about
the steps he had taken against anti-Zionist intrigues in
Syria and other matters. From that time forward we
saw each other every day. Some days later he went to
London to see his family and returned in three days
with Lady Sykes. Immediately upon his arrival he was
in touch with us. He had a thousand ideas, and had
brought reports and instructions from Syria that had to be
elaborated. Our days were filled with appointments for
visits, interviews, etc. Then Lady Sykes was attacked by
influenza, which caused a little dislocation and the postpone-
ment of an accepted invitation, but gave no cause for alarm.
On the 13th of February, Sir Mark hastily entered my room,
and on finding me indisposed, he shouted, ” There’s no
time now for being ill.” The following morning he sent
word to me that Lady Sykes was better, but that he himself
was taken ill. “I have got it,” he said to Serjeant Wilson
when he went to bed. On the 15th Lady Sykes sent for
me, and told me that her husband would have to remain
in bed for a few days, that afterwards she intended
to go to England for a week or so to recuperate. ” To
Sledmore ? ” I asked. ” No,” said Lady Sykes, ” it is
too cold there. I think the South will be better. And
my chief reason for troubhng you,” she added, ” is because
my husband wants to know how ZionisJ matters went
yesterday.” I gave full details to Lady Sykes. In the
afternoon of the i6th Sir Mark died.
He died on the threshold of the Peace Conference which
was destined to make his dream a living thing, died in a
hotel in the midst of us, bound up with our deepest affec-
tions, a radiant form full of love and sincerity. His Hfe was
as a song, almost as a Psalm. He was a man who has won a
monument in the future Pantheon of the Jewish people
and of whom legends will be told in Palestine, Arabia and
Armenia. Just returned from a difficult task in the service
of humanity in the service of the idea of nationality, and
about to perform great things for the Jewish people, he
fell as a hero at our side.
There it ends ! Shakespeare himself could use no more
than the commonplace to express what is incapable of
expression. ” The rest is silence ! ”
We say : ” The rest is immortahty — in the annals of
Zionism.”
Paris, April, 1919.
CHAPTER XLIXa
Choveve Zion and Zionists in England — Louis Loewe — Nathan Marcus
Adler — Albert Lowy — Abraham Benisch — The Rev. M. J. Raphall —
Dr. M. Gaster — Rabbi Samuel Mohilewer — English representation at
the Second and Third Congresses — The Fourth Congress in London.
The Choveve Zion movement in England was not very
powerful, yet it enjoyed a certain amount of popularity. If
we examine, for instance, the records for 1892-7 — the years
which preceded the First Zionist Congress (Basle, 1897) —
we find among the leading representatives not only the
Chief Rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Communities,
Dr. M. Gaster, Mr. Herbert Bentwich, Rabbi Professor
H. Gollancz, the late Colonel Albert Goldsmid, Dr. S. A.
Hirsch, Mr. S. B. Rubenstein, Mr. E. W. Rabbinowicz and
other English Jews of standing, who are even now more
or less active in the Zionist Organization ; but we read
the names of the late Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Dr.
H. Adler, the late Lord Swaythling, Mr. Elkan Adler,
Albert Jessel, Mr. Joseph Prag (who was one of the most
active members), Joseph Nathan, Louis Schloss, Haim
Guedalla, Captain H. Lewis-Barned, Bernard Birnbaum,
Mr. Herman Landau and other distinguished members of
the community, as among those of the prominent enthusi-
astic supporters of the Choveve Zion movement who did not
join the new Zionist Organization. The same phenomenon
strikes us in France. There the new Zionism was con-
fronted on the part of the Choveve Zion by an opposition
that was even stronger than in England.
An impartial historian, desirous of reviewing the facts
as they were revealed in Jewish life and literature, would in
vain endeavour to discover any essential difference between
the Choveve Zion and the Zionist fundamental principles.
He could trace a complete and clear conception of political
Zionism through centuries of English history or Jewish
history in England, and on the other hand also efforts and
undertakings in the direction of colonization pursued with
great energy and care by forces that are generally found to
be co-operating with political Zionism. A sober and dis-
passionate examination of all these ideas without regard to
xxxviu THE HISt6rY OF ZIONISM
mere catchwords must lead to the conclusion that Sir
Moses Montefiore’s representations to Mehemet Ali in 1838
were substantially the same as Herzl made to Abdul Hamid
in 1898. However, both aimed at a legally assured home
and both insisted that Palestine should belong to the
Jewish people. And no real student of contemporary
Jewish history will imagine that Sir Moses was an isolated
dreamer. He never undertook anything in Jewish affairs
without consulting the authorities of his time. One of his
advisers was Louis Loewe, the well-known Jewish scholar
and his secretary for many years.
Dr. Louis Loewe (1809-88), who was educated at the
Yeshihot of Lissa, Nikolsburg, Presburg, and at the
University of Berlin, came to England in 1839 and was
appointed by the Duke of Sussex to be his Orientalist.
He then travelled in the East, where he studied languages.
In Cairo he was presented to Mehemet Ali, for whom he
translated some hieroglyphic inscriptions. On his return
from Palestine he met at Rome Sir Moses and Lady Monte-
fiore, who invited him to travel with them to Palestine.
When, in 1840, Sir Moses went on his Damascus expedition,
Loewe accompanied him as his interpreter. Since that time
Loewe was attached to Sir Moses as his personal friend and
secretary. He accompanied Sir Moses on nine different mis-
sions. He wrote several valuable works on oriental subjects :
The Origin of the Egyptian Language, London, 1837 ; A
Dictionary of the Circassian Language, 1859 ; ^ Nubian
Grammar and several pamphlets — and translated J. B.
Levinsohn’s Efes Damim (1871) and David Nieto’s Matteh
Dan (1842). Dr. Loewe was an ardent supporter of all
schemes in favour of Palestine and strongly assisted David
Gordon, the editor of the Ha-Magid, who was an enthusi-
astic and outspoken political Zionist years before Herzl.
We have already mentioned to what an extent the Chief
Rabbi, Dr. N. M. Adler, influenced Sir Moses’ works in
Palestine. Nathan Adler was born at Hanover in 1803.
He received his education at the Universities of Gottingen,
Erlangen and Wurzburg. Already as a youth his abilities
proved him to be particularly adapted to the discharge
of rabbinical functions. In 1829 he was appointed Chief
Rabbi of Oldenburg ; in 1830 his jurisdiction was trans-
ferred to Hanover and all its provinces. His fame spread
beyond the Rhine and reached England just when the
Jewish population there was in need of a spiritual leader.
ADLER— LOWY— BENISCH xxxix
In 1844 the election took place for Chief Rabbi of the
Ashkenazi Congregations of Great Britain and the choice
fell on Dr. Adler. He was inducted into office on July 9th,
1845. His activity and influence during his lengthy careei
as Chief Rabbi proved a blessing and were attended with
most invaluable results. His calling did not prevent him
from contributing excellent literary productions, mostly in
Hebrew, the principal of which is Nethino La-Ger’s com-
mentary on the Targum of Onkelos. Th
ADLER— LOWY— BENISCH xxxix
In 1844 the election took place for Chief Rabbi of the
Ashkenazi Congregations of Great Britain and the choice
fell on Dr. Adler. He was inducted into office on July 9th,
1845. His activity and influence during his lengthy careei
as Chief Rabbi proved a blessing and were attended with
most invaluable results. His calling did not prevent him
from contributing excellent literary productions, mostly in
Hebrew, the principal of which is Nethino La-Ger’s com-
mentary on the Targum of Onkelos. There is no doubt
that this famous Rabbi and great Jew was in close touch
with Sir Moses in all the steps the latter took for the
colonizing of Palestine for a political as well as philan-
thropic purpose.
Many of the most important Jewish scholars arriving in
England, and becoming in course of time the pride of English
Jewry, were much attracted by the idea that England
was the classical soil for a fruitful work in Palestine. It is
worth noting that Dr. Albert Lowy belonged also to this
group. He was born on the 10 th of December, 1816, at
Aussig in Moravia. After his harmizwah (attainment of his
religious majority — the age of thirteen) he was sent to a
public school at Leipzig. Later he attended the University
and Polytechnic at Vienna. There he first met his lifelong
friends, Moritz Steinschneider and Abraham Benisch.
Lowy and his friends formed ” Die Einheit,” a society
whose object was to promote the welfare of the Jewish
people. In order to realize this object the c^()^ization of
Palestine by the Austrian Jews was advoca^S. The first
meeting of the new society was held in 1838, in Lowy’s
room. The object, however, had to be kept secret for fear
lest it would be defeated by the Government. England was
regarded as the country likely to welcome the new move-
ment, and, as an emissary of the Students’ Jewish National
Society, Lowy was sent to London in 1841. Years after-
wards he took a leading part in London in the foundation of
a body with kindred objects, the Anglo- Jewish Association.
To the same group of noble-minded men who raised
themselves to the height of a national and Zionist con-
ception of a superior kind belonged also the afore-mentioned
Abraham Benisch, one of the creators of the Anglo- Jewish
Press, the author of the Jewish School and Family Bible
(1851), the translator of Petahiah ben Jacob’s Travels (1856),
and for many years editor of the Jewish Chronicle. If there
ever was a Jewish nationalist, this important Anglo-
xl THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Jewish writer was one beyond a doubt. He was a man of
great abilities and learning, and rendered valuable assist-
ance in the propaganda for and in the organization of the
societies for the colonization of Palestine. In several
leading articles written by him, with great tact and
sagacity, he expounded — particularly in connection with
the political events of 1856 and of 1861 — the root prin-
ciples of political Zionism.
Another remarkable Jewish scholar and pioneer of
Zionism in his time was the Rev. M. J. Raphall, who was a
brilliant writer and also a pioneer of the Anglo- Jewish Press.
He edited the Hebrew Review and Magazine for Jewish
Literature in 1837, which was resumed in 1859. Some years
later he edited, together with the Rev. A. de Sola, the Voice
of Jacob, which had been founded by Jacob Franklin in
1841. He afterwards settled in America and assisted there
in the fifties of last century, together with some distinguished
American Jews, in establishing in New York a society for
the colonization of Palestine. He was later engaged in
similar work in Canada. Essentially a student and a
scholar, he devoted many years of his life to the propa-
ganda of the Jewish national ideas.
It is impossible to conjure away all the facts showing,
firstly, that the supposed differences between the Choveve
Zion movement and the new Zionism are mere phraseology,
and, secondly, that the best representatives of Anglo- Jews
were nationalist and Zionist. The refusal to accept the new
Zionism on the part of some representatives of the Choveve
Zion movement for that reason can only be regarded as a
temporary misunderstanding.
The new Zionism made headway in England especially
through the efforts of the two organizations : the English
Zionist Federation and the Ancient Order of Maccabeans.
The English Zionist Federation was formed in pursuance
of a resolution passed by the Clerkenwell Conference of
March, 1898, for the purpose of finding a common platform
upon which Zionists of all shades of opinion could co-
operate. A committee was appointed by the Conference to
draw up a scheme, and that committee established the
Federation. When the Federation was started it received
support from eight societies, representing five towns : after
six months, sixteen societies, representing nine towns, had
joined: at the time of the Fourth Congress, thirty-eight
societies, representing twenty-nine towns, were affiliated.
DR. MOSES GASTER xli
This was the first stage of development prior to the London
Congress of the Zionist Organization.
The appearance of EngHsh Zionist Delegates at the First
Congress has already been alluded to. After the First
Congress Dr. Gaster published the following letter in the
Times of the 29th of August, 1897 : —
” The movement aims at the solution of one of the most
complex modern social problems in Europe, and the means
which are to be employed towards the solution are the
realization of deep-seated religious hopes and ideals. For
this very reason men from all the ranks of Jewish society
and all shades of Jewish religion are here united in the
common, noble, lofty and humanitarian purpose — the
restoration of Israel, which is, moreover, the true fulfilment
of the words of our Prophets.
“It is surprising to find . . . the incorrect statement
that the agitation is the outcome of anti-Semitism. It
existed long before this word even was coined. It prompted
the Jews of Russia and Roumania many years ago to found
colonies in Palestine. But this movement is felt to be
inadequate to cope with the whole question. The political
situation of the Jews has since made enormous strides. The
number of Zionists with a definite aim before their eyes
has grown rapidly. They are recruited from among the
young enthusiasts on the Continent. University Professors
and students, scholars and workmen are joining hands.
They belong most exclusively to the orthodox and embrace
the vast majority of the Jewish people. The Bible and the
Prayer Book are the text, and this agitation is merely the
practical commentary. … I, as an orthodox Rabbi, beg
to differ radically from . . . (the anti-Zionist views). . . .
It is not here the place to enter upon dogmatic questions
and I therefore refrain from discussing the * miracles * that
are to happen on that day when Israel is to return to the
land of his fathers. God chooses human agencies to carry
out His Will, and it is after it has been accomplished that
we become aware of the renewing circumstances, unexpected
and unlooked for, which have all contributed to bring about
the result, which before would have appeared to be little
short of a miracle. Whether the restoration will be ac-
complished by the purchase of Palestine, or by unexpected
political combinations or by other peculiar circumstances, it
would be idle to dogmatize about.
” One thing is certain. The whole orthodox and realistic
xlii THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Jewry, which does not volatilize the words of the Prophets,
and does not look upon the Divine promises as so many
spiritual symbols to be interpreted away according to each
one’s fancy, is now assembled in spirit at the Congress and
watches its deliberations with sympathy and elevated hope.”
We have already mentioned that Rabbi Mohilewer had sent
his congratulations to the Congress. The contents of Rabbi
Mohilewer’s expressions may be briefly noted as a supple-
ment to Dr. Gaster’s letter. Rabbi Mohilewer wrote that as
the state of his health did not permit him to travel, he sent
the Congress his blessing in writing. Harmony and concord
should exist among all Zionists, even if their religious views
differed. The colonization of Palestine was recommended
as a religious duty — religion should therefore be a leading
factor in the Zionist movement. They should also bear in
mind that it was a duty to construct and not to demolish,
and they should preserve the honour of the rabbis, who
were thoroughly patriotic as regarded the land in which
they lived. For the past two thousand years, the Jews had
awaited the advent of the Messiah, who would take them
back to the land of their fathers. But in our country men
had risen who had abandoned this hope and had eliminated
it from the Prayer Book. Several of the rabbis in Western
Europe had declared against the Zionist movement, and one
of them had gone so far as to assert that the movement was
contrary to the biblical prophecies, as the Messiah was only
to be symbolized and the Jews were to remain in exile. He
declared this to be wholly untrue. Their faith was that
God would send a Redeemer to bring back the People to
their own land, and that the Jewish people would, once
again, be honoured among the nations. Zionism does not
interfere with this deep belief ; it is rather in harmony with
it, and it prepares the way.
These two letters were a sort of profession de joi on the
part of two rabbis representing different sections of
traditional Jewry in England and Russia respectively.
The Second Zionist Congress at Basle, 1898, was attended
much more numerously than the first one. There were over
four hundred delegates, and the English Zionists had sent
a larger contingent (the Haham, Dr. M. Gaster, had a
Roumanian mandate ; Jacob de Haas, Leopold J. Green-
berg, E. W. Rabbinowicz, B. Ritter, A. Snowman, S. Claff,
J. Massel, Dr. Moses Umanski, Herbert Bentwich and others).
The presence of Dr. Gaster, who was one of the most energetic
THE SECOND AND THIRD CONGRESSES xliii
spirits of the Congress, was a great gain to the Movement.
The Enghsh delegates adopted thoroughly English methods.
They were not seen standing about in groups and knots in
the passages and ante-rooms delivering impassioned speeches.
The oratorical contributions of the English delegates were
few, and none of them, except Dr. Gaster’s powerful address
towards the close of the proceedings, took up more than a
few minutes. But the English delegates worked hard in
Committee and at special conferences.
At that time the number of Zionist Associations in Great
Britain and Ireland had reached twenty-six (Leeds three,
Glasgow, London, Liverpool and Manchester two each ;
Belfast, Cardiff, Cork, Dublin, Edinburgh, Exeter, Hanley,
Hull, Limerick, Newcastle, Newport, Norwich, Plymouth,
Portsmouth and Sunderland one each), and in France — three,
out of the total number of the Associations all over the
world of 913.
The Jewish Chronicle, writing about the Second Con-
gress, remarked : ” There is the remarkable point of the
Congress — in strong relief with the comparative paucity
of the personnel of the English representatives is the
undoubted English influence that has been exerted.
Indeed, the net result of the Second Basle Congress is that
Zionism has made a distinct move towards England.
Indeed, it would look as if events were so shaping themselves
that the Mountain having refused to go to Mahomed,
Mahomed is coming to the Mountain. The Bank is to be
located in England, so is the Colonization Commission. This
may have been the result — probably it was — of England’s
supreme position among all the great Continental Nations,
not only in regard to its undoubted stability politically, but
also its unique position towards Jews.”
The Third Zionist Congress at Basle, 1899, was attended
by a still larger number of delegates from the United
Kingdom. There were : Dr. M. Gaster, Joseph Cowen, J. de
Haas, Murray Rosenberg, Herbert Bentwich, L. J. Green-
berg, S. Stungo, J. Massel, Rabbi Yoffey, Rabbi Dagutzky,
M. L. Dight, Rabbi Wolf, and others — representing London,
Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bel-
fast, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Limerick, Grimsby Associations.
According to a report of Mr. L. J. Greenberg, who had
already become an energetic propagandist of the new
Zionism in England, the work was progressing. He referred
also to the activities of Mr. Herbert Bentwich, for if it had
xHv THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
not been for him no such organization would have existed
in England. The Congress elected as members of the
Colonization Committee Dr. Gaster, Mr. Murray Rosenberg
and Mr. David Wolffe, and of the Propaganda Committee,
Mr. L. J. Greenberg and Mr. J. de Haas.
The Fourth Zionist Congress was held in London at the
Queen’s Hall, August 13-16, 1900. London had been
chosen \vith a view to further influence British public
opinion, seeing that in no country had the Zionist propa-
ganda been received more sympathetically and intelligently
by the general public. Dr. Herzl said in his inaugural
address at the Fourth Congress in London, 1900 : —
” I feel there is no necessity for me to justify the holding
of the Congress in London. England is one of the last
remaining places on earth where there is freedom from
Jewish hatred. Throughout the wide world there is but one
spot left in which God’s ancient people are not detested and
persecuted. But, from the fact that the Jews in this
glorious land enjoy full freedom and complete human rights,
we must not allow ourselves to draw future conclusions. He
would be a poor friend of the Jews in England, as well as of
the Jews who reside in other countries, who would advise the
persecuted to flee hither. Our brethren here would tremble
in their shoes if their position meant the attraction to these
shores of our desperate brethren in other lands. Such an
immigration would mean disaster equally for the Jews here,
as for those who would come here. For the latter, with
their miserable bundles, would bring with them that from
which they flee — I mean anti-Semitism.”
In the course of his address he uttered the following
prophetic words : —
‘* The land of Palestine is not only the home of the
highest ideas and most unhappy nation, but it is also by
reason of its geographical position, of immense importance
to the whole of Europe. The road of civilization and com-
merce leads again to Asia.”
According to the report read at this Fourth Congress by
M. Oscar Marmorek *’ they had thirty-eight societies in
England as against sixteen last year, and all these Societies
had increased their membership. Thanks to the activity of
the English Zionist Federation, Zionism had greatly
prospered in England and had won the esteem of Christians.
In Canada there was scarcely a town with a Hebrew
congregation where a Zionist society did not exist.”
CHAPTER XLIXb
England and Zionism — Sir B. Arnold in the Spectator — Cardinal Vaughan
—Lord Rosebery— The Death of Herzl— David Wolffsohn— Prof . Otto
Warburg — Zionism in the smaller states.
The Uganda scheme, which was due to the initiative of
Joseph Chamberlain, led to an intimate acquaintance
between the Zionist leader and this great English states-
man. This project, as well as the El Arish expedition,
which failed in consequence of technical difficulties, made
Zionism not only a living factor in Judaism from an inter-
national standpoint, but also a political factor that was
given consideration by one great Government, namely, that
of England.
Subsequent events, instead of diminishing, have only
more firmly increased Zionist confidence in the sympathy of
English public opinion for Palestinian Zionism. There is
hardly an appeal so eloquently written as Sir B. Arnold’s
address, published in the Spectator, October, 1903 : ‘* You
have a country, the inheritance of your fathers, finer, more
fruitful, better situated for commerce, than many of the
most celebrated places of the globe. Environed by the
lovely shores of the Mediterranean, the lofty steppes of
Arabia and of rocky Sinai, your country extends along the
shores of the Mediterranean, crowned by the towering
cedars of the Lebanon, the source of rivulets and brooks,
which spread fruitfulness over shady dales. A glorious
land ! situated at the furthest extremity of the sea which
connects three-quarters of the globe, over which the
Phoenicians sent their numerous fleets to the shores of
Britain, near to both the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf :
the central country of the commerce between the East and
the West. Every country has its peculiarity : every people
their own genius. No people of the earth have lived so true
to their calling from the first as you have done. The Arab
has maintained his language and his original country : on
the Nile, in the deserts, as far as Sinai, and beyond the
Jordan, he feeds his flocks. In the elevated plains of Asia
Minor the Turkoman has conquered for himself a second
xlv
xlvi THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
country, the birthplace of the Osman : but Palestine has a
thin population. For centuries the battlefield between the
sons of Altai and the Arabian wilderness, the inhabitants
of the West and the half-nomadic Persians, none have been
able to establish themselves and maintain their nationality :
no nation can claim the name of Palestine. A chaotic
mixture of tribes and tongues ; remnants of migrations
from north and south, they disturb one another in the
possession of the glorious land where your fathers for so
many centuries emptied the cup of joy, and so where every
inch is drenched with the blood of your heroes when their
bodies were buried under the ruins of Jerusalem.”
It is obvious that these and other similar appeals and
encouraging statements made a deep impression upon
Zionists. This gave rise to the assumption that Zionism
was merely concerned with English interest. It is needless
to say that such a statement is as unfounded as the one
ascribing to Zionism the pursuance of any other political
interest. Zionism is a cause of humanity and justice,
altogether remote from any political speculation : it can
help the Jews, it can be useful to any country interested in
the development of the East, it can be beneficial to all the
neighbouring nations. It was only the spirit of the Bible
which enabled the English people to appreciate the justice
and the moral equity of the endeavour to raise up in the
old land a free, united, prosperous and energetic Jewish
nation, attached by the closest ties of friendship to European
civilization, carrying not only into the East the civilization
of the West, just as in the Middle Ages their forefathers
brought the torch of culture to the West — that torch of
enlightenment which they have borne aloft in their journey
from the East, and which has enabled them to accomplish
cultural work of their own.
Cardinal Vaughan referred in 1902 most sympathetically
to Zionism in the following words : “I have always taken
a great interest in the Jews, they were once the chosen
people. I marvel at the strength they retain amid most
unfavourable conditions. I admire their industry, their
domestic virtues and their mental force, and I can only
wish success to a plan which promises them such great
advantages.”
Lord Rosebery pointed out, in one of his speeches, that
the silent campaigns of commerce are at least as decisive of
the fate of nations as the noisy operations of the battlefield.
THE BRITISH AS COLONIZERS xlvii
Even as the spasms and convulsions of nature, though she
works through them, are less important than the slow,
silent, everyday forces, so history is made less by the fire
and sword of the fighters than by the humble, prosaic
working-classes. The Jews were aware of the fact that not
by soldiers has the great British Empire been built up, but
by Trading Companies : India by the East India Company,
Canada by the Hudson Bay Fur Company, South Africa by
Mining Companies. The East India Company was in-
corporated in 1600 ; a few years later (1607) the earliest
permanent settlement of Virginia was founded. The
Pilgrim Fathers — a movement somewhat similar to Zionism
— began their noble work in 1620 ; and West Indian coloniza-
tion was inaugurated with the occupation of the Barbadoes
in 1625. Half to three-quarters of a century the work went
apace in North America, colony after colony was added to
the British Crown. Then other regions began to attract the
British, and a new era dawned with the occupation of
Gibraltar in 1704.
All the great achievements of British peaceful conquests
encouraged the Zionist Movement with its trusts and funds.
Cecil Rhodes, with only a million pounds to start with,
created Rhodesia with its 750,000 square miles. The
British North Borneo Company has a capital of £800,000
and dominates over 31,000 square miles. The British East
African Company, which administered 200,000 square miles,
began with the same amount as the Jewish Colonial Trust,
namely, £250,000.
It is true that the Zionist Palestinian scheme presented
other difficulties, but where was any great work undertaken
which did not present difficulties ? Is not the whole history
of the Jews a struggle for existence amid the greatest of
difficulties ? The Jews in their normal condition were an
agricultural people. During the centuries of depression and
persecution they had to abandon their old vocation.
Dispersed throughout all countries, yet fugitives from every
land, the Jews, who could call no place their home, had to
turn to commerce or to handicraft for a means of livelihood,
and were thus able to carry about with them everywhere
that kind of labour power that they knew to be realizable
everywhere. Yet, inexorable necessity as it was, it was a
breaking with the nation’s own self. And is the present
situation without its difficulties ? Let those answer who
know something of the hardships, the privations, the
xlviii THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
squalor, the wretchedness amid which three-quarters of the
Jewish people live throughout their lives. And, as to
financial means, even under present circumstances it is
necessary for the continuance of the present misery, to
collect millions and millions, whereby indescribable energies
are wasted — without any real help being given.
Inspired by these ideas, and with this object in view, the
propaganda was continued when suddenly, in 1904, the
Zionist Organization sustained the greatest loss ever
experienced by any Organization. Herzl had worked too
hard ; his exertions, his experiences and his emotions had
been such as to exhaust the strength of this strongest of
physical and intellectual giants. It was too much for one
himian being to bear; nature was unduly taxed and he
broke down. On the 3rd of July, 1904, Herzl breathed his
last in the villa ” Home, Sweet Home ” at Reichenau, on
the Semmering Mountain, south of Vienna. His memory
will be cherished for ever by the Jewish people.
David Wolffsohn (1856 — 1914), the Zionist representa-
tive and worker, who had distinguished himself since the
very beginning of the movement, succeeded Herzl. David
Wolffsohn’s career was eminently that of a self-made man
of the kind that old Dr. Smiles would have delighted to
portray. A man of attractive and imposing appearance,
of a loving disposition and mild grace, and with a real
sense of Jewish humour, rare gifts of adaptability and
extraordinary capacity for managing and leading forward
in active work, he was a splendid type of a self-made man.
But, from a Zionist point of view, lie was more than that :
he was Herzl’s great friend and confidant. His autobi-
ography is given in Appendix LXXXIII.
David Wolffsohn, practically chosen by the Actions Com-
mittee and all Zionist authorities, took over the leadership
of the Zionist Organization, during the interim between
Herzl’s death and the Seventh Congress in 1906. He had
first intended to transfer the headquarters to Berlin, but
afterwards decided to give Cologne, the city of his home,
the preference. He was assisted in this important and
responsible work by two distinguished Zionists : Professor
O. Warburg of Berlin and M. Jacobus Kann of the Hague.
The activities of Professor Warburg have been described
elsewhere in this volume : they tended in the direction of
colonization, and were almost wholly concentrated upon
this domain. M. Jacobus Kann, a member of an old and
I
ZIONISM IN HOLLAND AND BELGIUM xlix
highly respected banking firm in Holland, was more in-
terested in the financial institutions of the organization.
He joined the Zionist Organization at the very beginning
and has served the Zionist cause whole-heartedly and
devotedly, particularly in the founding of the Jewish
Colonial Trust, the Anglo-Palestine Company and all the
other financial institutions. He travelled in Palestine,
wrote a book [Erez Israel) dealing with his impressions,
and is also active in the Zionist work in his own country.
Holland has a well-organized and active Zionist Organiza-
tion, to which great impetus was given by the Eighth
Congress at The Hague, 1909. M. de Liema, Professor Oren-
stein. Dr. Edersheim, M. Cohen, M. Pool and many others
are among the prominent leaders. They take a very active
part in the general organization work and in that of the
Jewish National Fund, the headquarters of which at
present are at The Hague. The Dutch Zionist Federation
has an excellent weekly paper, Het Judischer Wachter, which
has appeared regularly for several years, and contains much
information concerning Zionist and Jewish matters as well
as other excellent articles and contributions. It is worthy
of note that Zionism in Holland has had for several years
now a Zionist University Movement — ^with some good
publications — ^which was started by Orenstein, Edersheim
and others. Mention of Holland reminds one that a
place of honour in Zionist history belongs to Belgium, and
particularly to Antwerp, which has been for several years a
first-class Zionist centre. Messieurs Jean Fischer, Oscar
Fischer, S. Tolkowsky, Dr. Wulf, Ruben Cohn, the late
Mehrlender, Grunzweig and many others, occupying impor-
tant positions in the general Zionist Organization, made
Zionism a living force in Belgian Jewry. M. Jean Fischer
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 of which the devoted pioneer M. S. Tolkowsky is
the representative at Rechoboth. M. Fischer visited Pales-
tine and wrote a book containing his observations. Belgian
Zionists had also a paper of their own, L’Esperance (Ha-
Tikvah), which brought very valuable contributions and
information.
In connection with Zionism the smaller countries of
Central and Southern Europe, Switzerland and the Scandi-
navian countries also deserve special mention. Switzerland,
d
1 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
the land ofjthe Zionist Congresses, has a good organization,
of which Dr. Camille Levy, Dr. Felix Pinkus, M. Levy are
the most notable. They were always very active in propa-
ganda, had their delegates at the Congresses and always
made Jtheir regular contributions. Denmark and Sweden
have|now had for some years a good Zionist Organization,
and, of late, are developing great activity, owing to the
Zionist Office which has been established at Copenhagen.
Roumania and Bulgaria are still more important as great
centres of Zionist activity. Roumania was almost equal to
Russia in the Choveve Zion movement. Now, M. Pineles,
M. Schein, M. Schwarzfeld, the learned and well-known
Dr. Nacht and Dr. Nemirower, with many other leaders are
at work in that country.
CHAPTER XLIXc
The Year igo6 — The Pogroms — Emigration — Conder and his Activities —
An Emigration Conference — The Eighth Congress — The Question of
the Headquarters,
The year 1906 was one of the ans ierribles in the annals of
Jewish history. It was a year of bloodshed and terror.
Not even the dark ages extracted so heavy a toll of Jewish
blood : something like 1400 pogroms took place all over
the Ghetto. In many districts the Jewish population were
completely exterminated. The number of persons directly
affected, that is to say of those whose houses, shops, or
factories were the objects of attack and pillage, reached a
total of some 200,000 to 250,000. To this number must be
added that of the clerks, workmen, etc., indirectly affected
by the destruction of factories and shops, which could not
be ascertained. The casualty list was estimated at approxi-
mately 20,000 murdered and 100,000 injured. PubHc
opinion was stirred up. Why had those Jews suffered ;
what sins had they committed ? Their loyalty and stead-
fastness to Judaism, instead of winning respect and admira-
tion for their faithfulness, had called down upon them a
treatment so immeasurably atrocious that it outdistanced
the conventional words of sorrow and suffering and tempted
many thinking men to ask whether the vaunted tolerance of
the twentieth century was anything but an extravagant
dream. If other nations suffer, they afterwards get freedom
and indemnity. If in i860 the Christians in Syria had suffered,
their suffering afterwards brought them an autonomy. But
what of the Jews ? Every day it becomes clearer that it is
impossible to allow the Jews to remain a prey to revolution
and counter-revolution, between which they are crushed
just as the corn is ground between the upper and nether
millstones. ” Emigration, then.” But whither ? The mass
of Jewish emigrants, in spite of all Emigration Committees
(which were established in America), resists dispersion ; it
holds together like a swarm of bees. In New York and
elsewhere gigantic Jewish cities have sprung up that have
become a menace to the safety of the present inhabitants and
li
lii THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
therefore to the possibiHty of further Jewish immigration.
Attempts made to substitute agricultural colonies at an
enormous expense by philanthropists have met with failure
everywhere except in Palestine, where it seems that at last
an effective form of organization has been discovered. There
alone the immigrant Jew finds himself at ease in language and
customs, and to that land he brings the indescribable im-
perishable feeling of home that elsewhere comes to him but
slowly and gradually.
Palestine is not far from Russia and Roumania, and is
unquestionably so adapted for cultivation that as soon as
the soil has been prepared the main stream of present
emigration can be directed thither. And, further, it is the
connecting link between the three great human divisions of
the earth, while its commercial future promises to be of the
brightest. It is therefore natural that the Jews, longing to
possess the land of their fathers, should be encouraged
to immigrate both on political and industrial grounds.
This great and powerful problem has roused English public
opinion, but the Zionist propaganda has made considerable
progress since 1900. One of the foremost English authorities
who supported a Zionist solution of the Jewish problem was
Colonel Claude Reignier Corder, to whom we have referred
several times in this book. Some space must be devoted to
a brief reference to the activities of this wonderful man in
connection with Palestine.
Colonel Conder’s name will always be associated with the
exploration of Palestine and with the history of Christian
sympathy in this country for the colonization of Palestine by
the Jewish people. No other person has ever done as much as
he for the correct interpretation of the Bible with reference
to Palestine. He was born on December 29, 1848, and was
trained for the Royal Engineers. He was associated, almost
from its creation, with the Palestine Exploration Fund,
which was founded in 1865. He was only twenty-six when, as
a Lieutenant, he went out to join in the survey of Western
Palestine. He returned to England in September, 1875,
having surveyed 4700 square miles. He brought with him
a mass of notes, special surveys, observations and drawings,
which formed the bulk of the material for a work which may
be said to have become historical : Tent Work in Palestine.
It is a book which even now well repays perusal, if only for
the light it throws upon the geography and topography of
Palestine, and the many incidents and experiences it
COLONEL CONDER liii
records. The remaining 1300 square miles of the survey
were finished by Lieutenant (later Lord) Kitchener in 1877.
The scientific results of the work occupied some twenty-six
memoirs, one to every sheet of the mapj The whole of
Western Palestine was mapped out on a scale which showed
every ruin and waterway, every road, forest and hillock.
More than a hundred and fifty biblical sites were ascertained
and from these the boundaries of the tribes were worked out
and the routes taken by the invading armies traced. The
other books and memoirs on Palestine which Conder pub-
lished form a library in themselves. In addition to the one
already mentioned, there are Heth and Moah and Memoirs of
the Survey of Western Palestine in 1883. This was followed
in 1890 by Memoirs of the Survey of Eastern Palestine, The
Bible in the East in 1896, The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem
in 1897, The Hittites and their Language in 1898. Besides
these must be mentioned his Handbook to the Bible (1879),
Primer of Bible Geography (1884), and Palestine (1891),
which contained in one small volume a handy summary of
all that was known of the geography of the country up
to date. His last work, published only a year before he
died, was on the City of Jerusalem. Special notice is also
due to his Judas Maccabeus and The Jewish Tragedy, in
which he deals with Jewish history from a national point of
view.
Conder pointed out that Zionists are the natural leaders
to whom the destitute and oppressed Jews turn for counsel
and guidance, that “emigration has not settled the
eternal question,” and that “a nation without a country
must be content with toleration as all that it can expect.”
He, too, sees the only solution in Palestine, and declares
that Englishmen should be ” only too glad to see Palestine
increasing in civilization and prosperity as an outpost in the
neighbourhood of Egypt.” {See Appendix LXXXV.)
The Zionist Organization called, in 1906, mainly under
the pressure of the pogroms, a conference of represen-
tatives of Jewish organizations at Brussels, to discuss the
question of emigration, particularly to the East. A number
of organizations — including the Anglo- Jewish Association
— sent their delegates ; others, probably in consequence of
their anti-Zionist tendencies, declined. Resolutions in favour
of investigating the condition of the emigration to the East
were accepted, and a committee was elected ; but nothing
practical resulted from these efforts, except a little ” rap-
Uv THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
prochement ” between Zionism and the ” Hilfsverein ”
which, however, in consequence of deep differences of prin-
ciple, was only superficial and of a short duration.
The work of the Zionist Organization, without losing
sight of the politiccil aspect, devoted itself more and more
to the work in Palestine. The Eighth Zionist Congress at
the Hague, August, 1907, with Wolff sohn and Nordau as
Presidents, was attended by a considerably increased
number of delegates, and among them a number of English
Zionist leaders. The report says about Zionism in England :
” In England the devoted zeal of the Zionists has removed
the difficulties which formerly existed. The Federation
worked systematically and well, and the Movement has
received a considerable impetus. The old and trusted
workers co-operate with the younger spirits.”
The Ninth Zionist Congress at Hamburg, December, 1909,
with Wolffsohn and Nordau again as Presidents, was well
attended (about four hundred members — and for the first
time in the history of the movement, delegates were in
attendance from Turkey). The impression driven home
with irresistible force was the sustained and unflagging
interest of all present in the movement. Among the English
delegates were : Dr. Caster, Dr. Samuel Daiches, Mr. Joseph
Cowen, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, Mr. L. J. Greenberg, Mr.
Herbert Bentwich, Mr. Norman Bentwich, Dr. Fuchs, the
Rev. J. K. Goldbloom, and Mr. Leon Simon.
The Congress found itself confronted with the problem of
organization. Several delegates were of the opinion that
the task of leadership was too difficult for a Small Actions
Committee, consisting of three persons, and that the head-
quarters should be removed to a larger centre. This view
was not influenced by any personal sympathies or anti-
pathies : it was dictated by considerations of an important
character. Others were opposed to any cha’nge. This was
an internal fight which had to be fought out, as in any
other democratic movement, with the weapons of reason
and conviction, and it was fought out. This Congress could
not radically solve the question and it was left to the next
one to bring the solution.
Zionism, however, remained as strong as ever. The dis-
putes, far from being symptoms of weakness, were sjmiptoms
of growing interest, devotion and enthusiasm for the common
cause.
CHAPTER XLIXd
Turkey, 19 10-14 — ^The New Turkish Cabinet of 1912 — ^The Balkan War —
The Tenth and Eleventh GDUgresses — Death of Wolffsohn.
We may as well now cast a glance at the aspect of; the
general political situation at the period this narrative’ has
reached. Public opinion in England was greatly disap-
pointed when the hist enthusiasm for Turkish liberties had
passed away. The ship of state in Turkey began to enter
very troubled waters, and no one saw safety ahead. The
defeat of the Committee of Union and Progress, the dis-
placing of the Said Pasha Cabinet and the downfall of
the other leaders of the Young Turkey party of 1908,
followed by the amnesty of a number of officials of the
Hamidian regime, had naturally led many in Europe to
believe that reaction had set in, and that the Young Turks
had once more been overthrown and were in danger of
being stamped out by the Old Turks or reactionaries. On
the other hand, some careful observers asserted that the
new Cabinet of 1912 was the best Turkey had had during
the past forty years, and that it was in no true sense
reactionary, but really constructive and progressive. They
maintained also that the Committee of Union and Progress
had begun to use old methods and were now hated by a
large proportion of their former supporters. But all these
allegations were contradicted by rapidly developing events.
Hardly at any time within this generation had the political
situation in Turkey presented elements of greater un-
certainty and danger than in the period 1910-14.
The greatest misfortune was the impossibility of any
improvement. Turkey undoubtedly had the desire for
progress along those lines which Europe professedly was so
anxious to see her follow ; but she needed advice, guidance,
credit and patience. She required men— advisers, counsel-
lors — to give her practical help in carrying out the necessary
reforms. But, unfortunately, such a development was
made impossible by the disturbing political events.
The Balkan War broke out. The Balkan peoples took
Iv
Ivi THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
their fate in their own hands. They did not look for
liberators from elsewhere, and asked no help in the settle-
ment of their differences. Whenever the Balkans had
flared up and gone into war before it had generally been due
to the fact that other nations had drawn them into the
struggle. The vital difference of this conflict was that, for
the first time for centuries, all the peoples concerned
thought themselves strong enough to decide their own
future by the sword. A fierce struggle began. The out-
look for the Turks was most gloomy from the very outset.
The Turks w^ere beaten. They were discarded by all those
who in Europe had seemed to have supported them, aban-
doned by the Powers which once valued their friendship.
Speculation as to what would happen was on everybody’s
lips. One thing was certain : that the East was getting
thoroughly aroused, and that the developments led inevit-
ably to a crisis unparalleled in history. Meanwhile, the
Zionist Organization continued its work with great energy.
The Tenth Zionist Congress at Basle, August, 191 1, with
Wolffsohn and Nordau again as Presidents, had an attend-
ance of about four hundred delegates, including a consider-
able number of English : Dr. Gaster, Mr. H. Bentwich, Mr.
Jacob Moser, Dr. Samuel Daiches, Dr. Weizmann, Mr. J.
Cowen, Dr. Hochman, Mr. H. Sacher, Dr. Salis Daiches,
Mr. S. B. Rubenstein and others. The question left over
from the previous Congress was settled at this one. A new
Small Actions’ Committee was elected, and David Wdlffsohn
retained his influential post as President of the Council, and
from that time again devoted his energies mainly to Zionist
finances.
The Eleventh Zionist Congress at Vienna, in September,
1913 (preceded by an International Congress of the Hebrew
^Language Revival Societies), with its attendance of five to
six hundred delegates, its enormous mass meetings,
exhibitions, lectures, entertainments and demonstrations,
such as the visit to Herzl’s grave, the Gymnastic Display
with 2500 national Jewish gymnasts and 25,000 Jewish
spectators, was the greatest Jewish display of forces that
had ever taken place. The importance of practical work in
Palestine, the thorough, serious and systematic treatment
of all colonization questions, the powerful influence of the
Hebrew language, the great number of intellectuals present,
the great power of the Students’ movement, were new
elements which wer6 apt to give the calmer and older
DEATH OF WOLFFSOHN Ivii
Congress members the impression of something chaotic. In
reality, however, that was only the way in which the
growth of the movement, its development, and many-
sidedness found expression.
Superficial observers, who have but vague ideas of
Zionism, in its narrow political and financial aspect, might
have been surprised at the sight of this Congress, but those
who know how Zionism has grown up out of the Choveve
Zion and literature and education, with the University
movement, which we have described elsewhere, will under-
stand why the first ” idyll ” was bound to give way to a
movement as reflected by the Vienna Congress. Dr. Gaster,
Mr. J. Moser, Mr. H. Bentwich, Dr. Ch. Weizmann, Mr. J.
Cowen, Mr. L. Simon, Mr. H. Sacher, and many other active
and well-known members of the English Zionist Federation
and of the Order of Ancient Maccabeans attended the
Congress as English Delegates.
There was also a large delegation (fourteen members) from
Canada. For the first time in the history of the Canadian
Zionist Federation no proxies had been given, as all the
delegates to whom the Canadian Federation was entitled
attended in person.
The general Organization has since then been active in
propaganda work, in development work in Palestine
through the ‘* Zionist Office,” and also in educational work
in that country.
The Organization sustained a great loss by the death of
David Wolffsohn. He had been ailing for the past few years
and died on the 15th of September, 1914. He served the
Zionist Organization with unequalled fidelity, with intense
devotion and a singleness of purpose that nothing could
divert. His passionate affection for the Zionist idea never
wavered. He was proud of the Zionist institutions and
watched over them with never-ceasing vigilance. All
Zionists fully realize the great devotion to the cause that
actuated this remarkable man. Unbounded industry, a
passionate love of the work he had to perform, these were
the characteristics of Wolffsohn, and won for him wide and
deep sympathy and admiration during his life and ha\’e
secured for him a lasting and cherished memory in the
hearts of Zionists throughout the world.
CHAPTER XLIXe
Baron Edmond de Rothschild in Palestine — Sir John Gray Hill — Pro-
fessor S. Schechter — South African Statesmen — A Canadian States-
man — Christian religious literature again.
The events in Turkey did not change Zionist convictions
in the least degree, nor lessen the faith in the ultimate
triumph of the cause. The colonization of Palestine by
Jews is useful and desirable from every point of view. It
was as much a necessity when Europe upheld the principle
that Turkey was to form an indissoluble and indivisible
Empire as in different circumstances. Among Jews them-
selves it was impossible to fail to notice the complete
change of tone and spirit with regard to Zionism. If there
was still any feeling of rivalry between Choveve Zion and
Zionists, it has vanished completely in recent years.
In this respect Baron de Rothschild’s visit to Palestine in
1913 was significant. The Baron, or ” Our Baron ” as the
great philanthropist is affectionately called by the Pales-
tinian Jews, for whom he has done so much, was received
with royal honours : there were triumphal arches, and
crowds of people and school children lined the streets
singing songs of welcome. He expressed his keen satis-
faction with Zionist work, and particularly with the re-
markable development of the Hebrew schools and the
spread of the Hebrew language in Palestine.
The attitude of English opinion, that is of real opinion
based upon knowledge of facts and circumstances, remained
unchangeably sympathetic.
For instance. Sir John Gray Hill of Liverpool, who had
an intimate and direct knowledge of Palestine, where he
used to spend his holidays for many years, and whose
reflections and observations were of great value, gave in his
address, delivered to the Liverpool Jewish Literary Society,
on the 30th of November, 1913, a detailed analysis of the
work to be done in Palestine. While admitting that ex-
aggerated hopes were liable to strong objections and indi-
cating the existing limitations, he said : ” What you can
Iviii
SIR JOHN GRAY HILL Hx
do is to afford a refuge in Palestine to large numbers of
persecuted Jews, and you can teach them to cultivate the
soil, and to practise various arts and crafts so as to main-
tain themselves in the home of their fathers. Now I think
it is very important that the English Jews should take a
lead in this endeavour, because the English Jews are the
leaders in thought, in position and in common sense, and
have a calm way of looking at things.” He opposed the
most erroneous and absurd idea of a contradiction between
Jewish racial self -consciousness and English patriotism.
” I am told that there is some feeling amongst the English
Jews of there being a want of patriotism in interesting
themselves in the Holy Land. That I do not understand.
A Scotchman is a Scotchman, full of love for his own land
and his own customs, poetry and song, but he is a Briton ;
so of a Welshman ; so of an Irishman ; so of a Devonshire
man ; so of a Lancashire man ; we cherish these special local
feelings, these feelings of local pride, and yet we remain true
to the Great Empire to which we belong.” He offered a
suggestion about travelling to Palestine.
” Now the leading Jews in England cannot, of course, go
to live in Palestine altogether, but they might visit the
country ; and those who can afford the time might pass
a portion of the year there, and, I think, if they did
so they would find an immense interest in the country,
and would be able to help their poorer brethren far
better than they can by remaining at a distance from it.
Travel, open, open your mind, travel to the Holy Land
and see the great vision of what the past did for us, that
amazingly interesting country, without seeing which I
think it is extremely difficult to understand in a full and
proper way the meaning of the Bible ; at any rate, the
sights of that land throw an immense deal of light upon it.
Then there is another reason. Englishmen are very much
respected in Palestine ; they are thought more highly of
than people of any other nation. One reason is, that it is
known that England is not seeking to exploit the country ;
England does not seek for greedy concessions, and English-
men, so far as they have to do with the natives, always treat
them considerately and kindly, and, I think, the natives
believe that whether the Englishmen are going the right
way about it or not, they are trying to help the native to
help himself.”
Here he struck a note which might have seemed new to
Ix THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
him as a spectator appealing to English Jews. In the Zionist
literature and Press this idea has frequently been expressed.
Indeed, Palestine is still the land of poetry and enthusiasm,
but it has ceased to be that of mystery ; and though only
the fame of its natural beauty has hitherto reached Western
Europe, travellers who have recently visited Palestine have
learned to appreciate the progress of this country in
colonization. If anybody has hailed with enthusiasm the
rising of this new star in the East on account of its brilliancy,
beauty and poetical supremacy, he could discover on a
visit to the country those pioneers of vigorous frame, with
eagle eyes and well-formed, combining the sternness of the
present with the subtlety of the intellectual and the
simplicity of the child. The best means of becoming a
Zionist is — a visit to Palestine. Sir Moses Montefiore was
the first European Jew who visited Palestine as a tourist
and philanthropist, and he was an English Jew. That was
a great traditional example for English Jewry.
Sir John Gray Hill emphasized the importance of the
Zionist Jerusalem University scheme : ** Now I have to
speak of the proposal to have a University in Jerusalem.
That is a proposal, I think, in which all Jews might join.
Any objection or feeling of apathy that there is on the part
of Jews for any reason against Zionism generally, cannot
apply to a Jewish University. You want a centre of Jewish
culture and instruction in Jerusalem. The Vienna Congress
recently started the scheme thoroughly by a good subscrip-
tion. You would, of course, teach Hebrew, thus preserving
the purity of your language, and you would also, I hope,
teach medicine, arts and crafts, agriculture and horticulture.
Cannot you attract the attention of some very wealthy
Jews to this great project ? Whatever objections they have
to Zionist projects generally cannot possibly apply to this.
What a noble monument it would be to a millionaire, or
group of millionaires — those mighty kings of finance who
are so powerful in Europe — to erect and endow a splendid
University for the Hebrew race. If they were appealed to
they would, I think, listen. Surely they would not take
for tkeir motto the injunction addressed by the followers of
Solomon to the Bride from Tyre : * Forget also thine own
people and thy father’s house.’ No, that cannot be ; I
think if the matter is properly represented to them a
response will come. I believe, also, that a true and wise
view of Zionism is growing in force. The cause is moving at
SOLOMON SCHECHTER Ixi
last. The long period of slack water has ended. The tide
has turned, although we may not yet see that it has done so.
* For while the tired waves vainly breaking.
Seem here no painful inch to gain ;
Far back through creeks and inlets making.
Comes silent Hooding in the main.’ ”
On the other hand, an appreciation of the moral and
religious value of the Zionist movement may be quoted.
Speaking at a Zionist meeting in 19 14, in Cincinnati, the
late Professor Solomon Schechter said : ” Zionism is now
a living fact. We must have Zionism, if we want Judaism,
orthodox or reform, to continue to exist. Judaism is at the
present time in a very weak condition, not only in America,
but also in Europe. The Jew cannot live in his own
atmosphere, he is compelled to breathe the spirit of other
religions. … The question then arises : What is it that can
preserve the Jewish people ? Now can Judaism be saved
from complete annihilation ? Jewish history tells us that
the Hellenist Jews who settled in Alexandria and other places
remained loyal to Judaism, although they had been excellent
Greek citizens. . . . But after the destruction of the
Temple, these Hellenist Jews became completely submerged
by the Greeks, and nothing remained of their Judaism.
That,” said Professor Schechter in conclusion, ” was why
Jews must have at the present time the Zionist move-
ment. Zionism could effect for the Jew a change in his
material life, and it could also create for him a Jewish
atmosphere, in which he could breathe freely his religion.”
It is worthy of note that the late Professor Schechter did
not join the Zionist movement during the first years of its
existence, but was then opposed to it. Being, however,
unlike the Bourbons, who are said to have learned nothing,
and having realized the wonderful effects of this movement
as far as the revival of Judaism was concerned, he became
in the last years of his life a faithful Zionist. This was the
logic of a progressive mind.
The Right Hon. J. X. Merriman said in an address
delivered on the 9th of July, 1914, in opening the Zionist
Bazaar at Capetown, that ” Zionism is a ramshackle
movement, because it began in a very small way, and it
had gradually spread. This had been achieved by the
general effort of the people themselves, who had laudable
desires. They had settled a good many people on the land
Ixii THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
and had brought to bear their remarkable faculty of energy,
enterprize and skill in restoring Palestine to its former
fertility/’ On the following day the Bazaar was opened by
Sir Thomas Smartt, m.l.a. : ” There could be few,” said
Sir Thomas in his eloquent address, *’ but what admired
their great leader. Dr. Herzl, in his lofty ideal for re-
establishment as in the days of old, after many years of
wanderings, the ancient glories of their race — of establish-
ing a nation which had done more than any other nation
for the spread of religious thought throughout the world.
Notwithstanding the long and dark ages of suffering and
tribulation through which the race had passed, the love and
devotion to its traditions were just as strong as ever. Their
young men still continued to dream dreams and their old
men to see visions of that sun of righteousness which was to
rise with healing in its wings. In seconding, Senator Powel
said that it was a great satisfaction to know that the
Palestine movement had got beyond the stage of dreams
and visions, and was becoming an accomplished fact. He
hoped that they would never slacken their efforts in what
is one of the greatest movements in the world to-day.
At the General Conference of the Canadian Jews held
in Montreal on the 14th of November, 1915, which was
unique in the annals of the Jews of Canada (for this was the
first time in their history that the representatives of every
section and every element of the Canadian Jewish Com-
munity came together from all parts of Canada to take part
in a conference), a representative of the Canadian Govern-
ment, Mr. Maighen, brought the Assembly the good wishes
of the Government for the success of the Conference and
its high appreciation of that spirit of brotherhood which
had caused tliem to come together. He spoke of the
history and traditions of the Jewish race and of the
debt that mankind owed to it. He referred to Jewish
civilization as being the most ancient that influenced the
world of to-day and of the wonderful way in which it had
endured in spite of the ages of oppression its zealots had
suffered. Speaking of the wish cherished so long by the
Jews to regain possession of Palestine, Mr. Maighen gave
utterance to the following : *’ I think I can speak for those
of the Christian faith when I express the wish that God
speed the day when the land of your forefathers shall be
yours again. That task will, I hope, be performed by that
champion of liberty the world over — the British Empire.”
ENGLISH DIVINES AND PALESTINE Ixiii
This speech shows how, in the minds of EngHsh statesmen,
the question of rights for the Jews all over the world, and
that of a Jewish homeland for the nation are bound up in
one great principle of justice and freedom.
To conclude the way we began mention must be made of
Christian religious literature, which continues to support
Zionism in its own way. The Rev. Earle Langston pub-
lished recently his ideas on the subject. The Christadel-
phians have published ample literature to which the learned
Mr. Walker has contributed extensively. Mr. Frank Janna-
way, an ardent Christadelphian whose interest in Jews and
their homeland dates back some forty years, and who has
paid several vi^ts to Palestine at intervals of a few years,
and has thus enjoyed some splendid opportunities of watch-
ing the gradual development of the Holy Land, has pub-
lished a book, Palestine and the Jews (1914), of which two
new editions, one of them entitled Palestine and the Powers,
have since appeared. His knowledge is wide and thorough.
He sees Palestine as the land of the future, and every
new development is to him the fulfilment of a prophecy.
He offers biblical chapter and verse for the happen-
ings that have been convulsing the world, and in a
way which reminds one of the oldest English pro-Zionist
literature of the seventeenth century, which links up the
position of the present and future aspects with sacred pre-
diction. His views favour the Jewish cause and show
considerable and correct acquaintance with the Zionist
k movement. It must finally be observed that during the
last two years a great number of excellent articles have
appeared in English newspapers and magazines, and some
also in the French Press, in which great sympathy is
expressed with the Zionist cause from a political, as well as
from a humanitarian point of view.
ZIONISM DURING THE WAR
1914-1918
GENERAL SURVEY
The year 1914 will stand out as the Great Divide in con-
temporary history. It was a year of endings and beginnings.
Humanity left an age behind it, and entered upon an age in
which old things have passed away and all things had to
become new.
Long feared and long foretold, yet never seriously ex-
pected, the European War came at last. Nations, great
and small, arose in their strength, and gathered, in an
avalanche of excitement, all their manhood to battle, all
their old age to guard, and all their womanhood, not only as
in bygone days, to tend and heal the wounded and sick, but
also to do preparatory work for the fighting armies. Gener-
ations, young and old, rushed eagerly to defend their
countries, leaving home, property, calling ; knowing no fear
save that here and there one of their fellow-citizens might
prove less patriotic than themselves. The world was
thrown back to the moral level and the ethical con-
ceptions of thousands of years ago : man became again a
wolf to man, as in the Pleistocene Age. On the one hand, the
vast and bloody epic produced a sort of ecclesiastical mora-
torium which, for the duration of the war, annulled all moral
obligations and abrogated the Ten Commandments, while
on the other hand, it developed, to the highest degree, all the
great and noble feelings — sense of honour, unselfishness,
magnanimity, courage. Nationality, patriotism, the sense
of duty, the spirit of sacrifice, enthusiastic heroism and
patriotic martyrdom filled the hearts and created a new
atmosphere, in which every kind of human activity
was intensified : industry, art, science, and literature.
This great storm, the greatest storm that had ever
stirred mankind, produced the greatest spiritual tragedy
the world has ever known. The most terrible aspect
of the war was not the fact that Europe was being
bled white, that all the amenities of civilization were
II.— B
2 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
breaking down with the strain of the military operations,
and that each day some new and more brutal engine of
destruction was prepared and brought into use, but — the
ethical conflict carried on with minds and nerves on the rack
of tense emotion which not only upset mental balance and
changed the outlook of peoples, hitherto industrious and
peaceful, but developed moral and social fears and passions
which will not pass away in a day. This universal catas-
trophe would indeed have degraded the world into
” a sort of malign middle term between a lunatic asylum
and a butcher’s stall,” if it had not finally become —
as it has become — ” a war against war.’* The peoples
turned their ploughshares into swords, they ceased to make
useful, beneficial rails and plates and angles and girders of
their iron ore and their coal, and they manufactured harm-
ful, destructive shells and guns to project them to the
slaughter of the enemy, hoping that when the time came
they would again turn their swords into ploughshares. They
realized that the enemy of society is militarist despotism,
and that miHtarist despotism therefore must be ended, or it
will end society. A great moral idea arose out of this war :
the liberation of oppressed small nations. Another great
moral idea arising from it is the de-militarization of human-
ity. The whole world is now involved in a life or death
struggle for righteousness. This is the justification for all the
sufferings and all the sacrifices. If this war were not a war of
principles and for ideals it would be nothing, and could result
in nothing except the further enthronement of the doctrine
and worship of force, and the perpetuation of the untold
misery and degradation which that form of rehgion carries
with it. It should never be forgotten that this was a war
for liberty of the peoples, and in particular of the small
peoples.
This great war has aggravated and made terribly clear
the position of Jewry and the tragic problem of its exist-
ence as a small and oppressed nationality. The war has
turned numerous Ghetti of Galicia, Bukovina, Russian
Poland, Lithuania, Courland and Roumania into heaps of
ashes, and hell would be pleasant compared with the situa-
tion of great masses of the Jewish people. In this war,
particularly in Eastern Europe, hundreds of thousands of
Jews were fighting against one another in the hostile camps
of the belligerent countries ; and the significant factor is
that they were not fighting because they were forced
JEWS BUT NO JEWRY 3
to, but from a sense of supreme duty. Even among those
that were fighting in the Russian Army before the
Revolution, there were many who were not acting under
compulsion : they were giving of their best and from their
heart. They wanted to take their places in the virile, the
over- virile world — ^which is also their world, they wanted to
hve and die taking their place in the great living society
which called to them. The spirit of Europe — rather the
spirit of present-day Europe, which was the spirit of obstinate
conflicts and of extreme cour
This great war has aggravated and made terribly clear
the position of Jewry and the tragic problem of its exist-
ence as a small and oppressed nationality. The war has
turned numerous Ghetti of Galicia, Bukovina, Russian
Poland, Lithuania, Courland and Roumania into heaps of
ashes, and hell would be pleasant compared with the situa-
tion of great masses of the Jewish people. In this war,
particularly in Eastern Europe, hundreds of thousands of
Jews were fighting against one another in the hostile camps
of the belligerent countries ; and the significant factor is
that they were not fighting because they were forced
to, but from a sense of supreme duty. Even among those
that were fighting in the Russian Army before the
Revolution, there were many who were not acting under
compulsion : they were giving of their best and from their
heart. They wanted to take their places in the virile, the
JEWS BUT NO JEWRY 3 over- virile world — ^which is also their world, they wanted to
hve and die taking their place in the great living society
which called to them. The spirit of Europe — rather the
spirit of present-day Europe, which was the spirit of obstinate
conflicts and of extreme courage of devotion — has seized
the Jews also : they also have entered into this tremendous
catastrophe, into this pilgrimage through chaos towards a
new world.
But for the Jews this war meant infinitely worse evil and
greater danger ; the nations were divided one from another,
Jewry was divided against itself ; each nation opposed its
fixed shape and character, untouched even by defeat, to the
overflooding chaos, but the Jewish nationality seemed to
be its victim, in its own wavering and chaotic form of the
Diaspora. It almost seemed as though there existed Jews,
and divided Jews, but no Jewry.
And yet it was not really so. It was a dark time, and the
storm was ghastly enough, but the lightning has revealed
things that might otherwise have remained hidden. Rather
should we believe that the time of the greatest trial for Jewry
denoted a high self-recollection, and with it the commence-
ment of a true gathering and union. In times of great stress
men discover their own deeper selves. Great trouble some-
how digs into the very foundation of a man’s existence, and
he cannot explore there without finding what is most
essential in him. When some tremendous trouble sends its
plough through his heart of hearts, then he becomes aware
of wonderful things he has never suspected before.
Now it is well worth our while to weigh all this and to
make it part of our outlook and equipment as we face the
great present events. Because, for one thing, it should go a
long way towards dehvering us from the worst of all fears —
the fear of to-morrow and the next day, and all the days that
the future hides. Nine out of ten of us are perpetually spoil-
ing what is happening by dread of what may happen, so that
we can all join Disraeh in saying that we have had many
troubles, but the worst have been those that never happened.
If only we could let the morrow be anxious for itself ! But,
to a large extent, we can, if we will, school ourselves to it;
4 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
” : TN3T T’a'*3′» … *
(‘) Md ‘aV Dnm
is a promise perpetually justified by the best psychological
findings and historic experience in the Hfe of nations. It is
really the fact, that our ” day ” stirs and heightens our
strength. Only when challenged, do we know what we are
capable of. Modern psychology tells us that ” the human
individual lives usually far within his limits ; he possesses
powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He
energizes below the maximum, and he behaves below his
optimum. ‘ ‘ And to rise to our maximum and optimum we need
some unusual stimulus or some unusual idea of necessity.
Jewish history has revealed this truth several times. One
individual or another, one small group or another — separated
from the masses of the people — may fall away from Jewry ;
whoever can do that to-day has never belonged to it. The
majority, however, remain loyal, and are never more loyal
than in times of stress. The illusion is destroyed that
a man can live a truly moral life in a time of trial while
he is only a spectator of the life of society. In the Jews,
convulsed by the events of the war, the new unity of Jewry
showed itself. The situation was so serious, so full of menace
for all that we hold dear, that every thinking Jew saw that
he must in these days help to create and maintain the moral
energies which alone can carry him through the crisis. At
this time the Jew had a duty to his country and a duty to
Judaism. To his country he owed, as a citizen, duties which
could not be shirked. Every support was to be given to all
patriotic efforts for the prosperity, the victory, and the
glory of the country. To Judaism he owed the obligation of
securing and defending not only the existence, but also the
development and the realization of its traditional ideals, and
of strengthening its unity. The first expression of this unity
was an increase of self -consciousness. Jewry was affected by
the war, but the essential problems of the Jews in the
modern world were not altered by the war.
When we speak of Jewry, we speak of a living historic,
ethnic and cultural — although not poUtical — nationhood,
existing potentially in its unity, independently of the Jewries
of the countries in the various forms of their divided destinies,
and their dissensions at the present moment. We strive to
fix and to assure it — as far as external conditions allow it —
* ” . . . And as thy days, so shall thy strength be.” — Deut. xxxiii. 25.
ZIONIST ORGANIZATION AND THE WAR 5
in the Diaspora. And when we wish to prepare for it a sort
of central MetropoHs, an organic chef-lieu in Palestine — we
are not engaged in adding one more nationality to the
existing nationalities which fight against and watch one
another suspiciously. It is not the question of introducing
Jewry into the divisions of the nations, to be absorbed by
them, and thus to contribute to their conflicts, but it is
rather a question of aiming at the union of all that is noble
and just in the nations and in ourselves. We want our own
centre of simple active life, because the spiritual and in-
tellectual element without the simple active hfe degenerates
into subtlety and trickiness. We want — at least, for a
section of our nationahty — normal life, with its variety and
interpretation of different influences of Nature. This is a
question in which every Jew should be interested, because
not only does the nobility of a nation depend on the presence
of the national consciousness, but also the nobility of each
individual. Our dignity and our rectitude are proportioned
to our sense of relationship to something great, admirable,
pregnant with possibilities, worthy of sacrifice, a continual
inspiration by the presentation of aims larger than everyday
life and personal ease.
^\^lat was the attitude of the Zionist Organization with
regard to these great events ? Why was the Zionist Organ-
ization more interested in the war than any other section of
Jewry ? And why is Zionism at present more up to date
than it ever was ? In order to answer properly these ques-
tions we have to cast a retrospective glance on the history
of the last twenty years, and to recall to the minds of the
readers a few important facts which, although dealt with in
this work in previous chapters, must be again reviewed in
their connection with the present political situation.
Twenty years ago several hundred Jews from all parts of
the world met in the Swiss town of Basle and held a congress
— the first Jewish congress in history.
A strange community of Jews, a representative assembly
of the great Jewish Diaspora — from the most modern Euro-
pean writers to teachers in Talmud colleges in small Lithu-
anian towns, quiet respectable citizens and fiery students,
bankers and Hebrew writers — representing all kinds of
civilization and all languages — and, nevertheless, some bond
unified the whole.
At the head sat a man of the kind which appears Hke
meteors but once in the course of generations — Theodor
6 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Herzl. A sage, a hero, a leader of men, an artist ? Every-
thing — even more than everything — the embodiment of an
idea. In the body of this man there existed a soul, and that
soul was Zionism.
At his side there stood (besides other worthies whose
titles to honour w^e may not here Unger to mention) a tribune
of the people, in the person of Max Nordau — another famous
man only just awakened suddenly and with great power to
his Jewish nationahty.
There the veil was torn away from the tragedy of the Jews.
There it was stated that the Jewish problem was a disease,
and that against a disease one should not protest and struggle
wildly, but one ought to cure it. Moreover, it was said that
at times one cannot heal a wound except by cauterizing it.
And all were agreed that it was not a good plan to postpone
difficulties, but on the contrary that they should be antici-
pated.
Speakers there indicated the ” Galuth ” — the serpent with
a thousand coils. And they pointed to the Land of Israel, to
freedom, to redemption.
In the Land of Israel, it was there affirmed, Zionism could
become a hving reahty.
Nothing new indeed was there discovered. It was simply
stated that two and two make four.
Out of the vocabulary of modern poHtical nomenclature
the word ” national ” was adopted. Is Zionism national ?
Certainly. It can also be called ‘* human ” ; perhaps still
more simply, ” natural.” Let us learn, however, from
Nature, in its simpHcity and honesty, which knows of no
sophistries nor manoeuvring.
We Jews have become again children of Nature. There
exist species in Nature. The eagle does not toil for
the pike nor the lion for the cat ; neither can the light
of the stars replace that of the sun. Each fulfils its own
purpose, and thence results the sum total. Behold the
trees and the standing corn — ^would they be so splendidly
developed, so rich and so fresh in their growth, if they
were forcibly mixed and mingled together so that one
drew its sap from the other ? They are flourishing and rich
and beautiful, because each keeps its own natural form and
each draws its nourishment from the breast of mother earth.
” Give us our country,” said the Zionists. ” Give it to us
for our exiled and wandering ones, who unwilUngly find
themselves mingled in the great seething pot of assimilation.
THE JEWISH CLAIM
who drag themselves from place to place. Give it to us for
those who long and thirst for another kind of hfe ; our
garments, our bread, and our freedom we do not wish to have
as alms. We wish to work and to obtain the fruits of our
honest labour. We love that little country ; waters cannot
quench and streams cannot drown our love for it. Our love
has the power to move mountains, it is stronger than all
material obstacles. We demand a peaceful spot for our
future and for our children who are becoming lost to us.
Beholding this misery, we are wilhng to sacrifice ourselves.
Even a she-wolf throws herself against danger to protect her
young ones. Shall our love be weaker then than that of a
wolf ? And shall those whom we love be worse off than the
offspring of animals ? We want to rend asunder our chains,
to blot out the mark of serfdom upon us, and win for our-
selves true human rights, and the privilege of hving equal
to others, by honest toil.”
This was the Jewish claim — the demand put by Zionists
to the world. And then the world turned against us,
especially the little Jewish world.
We shall not talk about the levity, the insolence, the
egotism, nor about those satiated folk who philosophize
with their stomachs, nor about those others who do not
know their own minds, whose shallow little heads float hke
foam in any current. We do not talk about those idle jesters
who have found another opportunity of showing the sad wit
of the Ghetto which takes pleasure in ridicuhng and despising
one’s own self. Indeed even respectable, serious and honest,
though unfortunately shortsighted and obstinate men, who
imagined themselves enthusiastic concerning Judaism, kind-
hearted but automatic leaders of Jewish communal life who,
though philosophizing about mankind, are inwardly divided
from their own people, came to us with ** fatherly ” advice,
with moral lectures, with sonorous phrases about humanity.
They wanted to destroy most quickly, annihilate and ex-
tinguish the ” dangerous chimaera,” the ” reaction,” the
” chauvinism,” the ” Sabbatai-Zvi’ism,” the ** decay of
religion,” ” religious fanaticism,” ” tribalism,” and all the
other things they ascribed to Zionism in their political
delusion and contradictory nomenclature.
” You must scatter yourselves all over the world,” they
said, ” just as a handful of seeds, scattered by the wind,
germinate, grow and ripen, all in different spots, replenishing
the earth with their fruits ! What do you want with a
8 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
country of your own ? You are made for something better I
To be priests, teachers of ethics, missionaries of God — that
is a higher ambition ! Your contribution to mankind is
social justice and the brotherhood of men. Why be a nation
and for what purpose ? You will be great in the memory of
peoples. You have earned a golden throne in history’s
temple of fame. You have been, to-day you are no more ! ”
The Zionists replied : *’ We want to live. We know
better than you do what we are able to do, and how we ought
to influence mankind ; but we do not wish to abdicate, we
do not wish to be destroyed like a broken vessel, whose
contents have run out and have drained into the soil without
leaving a trace. We do not want to be lost like a falHng star,
which for a time had shone brightly in space, only to sink
into nothingness. Our star is not yet dead. Our ambitions
are not very high, but they are based on reality. We do not
want to be an exception, and we want to be excused from
such a * priesthood.’ We want to create a sound settlement,
a strong centre where we can develop our own nature and
our character to the highest and purest perfection. Should
the world wish to learn from us and accept our influence, we
shall place no obstacles ; on the contrary, we shall be glad
of it. But to drag ourselves from place to place, to be the
scapegoat of every ‘ Azazel,’ and the sacrificial lamb for
every calamity, to mix everywhere with others, to lose more
and more that which is our own personality, and to imagine
that we are a sort of schoolmaster for everyone — for such
imposture we are too honest, for such megalomania we are
of too normal a mentaUty, and, morally, too modest. We
do not want to be driven ad majorem Dei gloriam (for God’s
greater glory) or to be intermingled with others. We do not
want to be like the goose that was offered the choice of being
either roasted, stewed, or boiled. Neither do we wish to
have lavished upon us the pity given to old people,
because it is certain that they will not for long con-
tinue to disturb the peace of the living. We are old,
it is true, but on that account we are experienced.
From Pharaoh and Balaam to the foreign Antiochus
[Epiphanes] {oh. 164 h.c.e.) and our own Jason, ^ from the
Hellenists to the modern Assimilationists, we have been
constantly invited, as the spider invited the fly into her
» rein* or Jesus, High Priest from 174-171 b.c.e., brother of the High
Priest. N»3in = N^Jin:, Onias iii.
THE ZIONIST REPLY
parlour, just to get it entangled in her web and afterwards
to suck it dry. No ! a thousand times no ! And if you say
the Land of Israel is of no value to any one, then you are not
speaking in our name ! Speak for yourselves alone ! For
you the Land of Israel means perchance only a cemetery, a
legend, an amulet, an archseological relic ; for us its every
pebble and grain of sand is beloved, not only in a spirit of
worship and of inactive enthusiasm, but also as a necessity
to our life labour. And if you believe that the Jewish people
are of a similar species to the Mammoth and the Mega-
therium, which have been devoted to extinction, then please
speak only for yourselves ! Perhaps the sense of Jewish
nationahty in you has gone to sleep or has even died
entirely. That is your own affair, a personal question which
you have to fight out with your own selves. In us it is alive,
suffering, fighting, clamouring ! Zionism is the movement
of the Jewish people to reconstitute itself and to collect
again its scattered members, to provide Judaism, the Jewish
spirit, the Jewish soul, with a home once again after two
thousand years of exile and of wandering. Zionism is the
struggle of the Jewish people to preserve its existence.
Zionism feels that the raison d’etre of Judaism is not ended,
that the Jewish race can still contribute its share towards
the raising of humanity, but to enable it to do so more
efficiently, in an organized form, and in accordance with its
own natural affinities and historic traditions, a Jewish
milieu is necessary. To create such a Jewish milieu is the
purpose of the Zionist movement. Such a Jewish milieu
can take root in one land and one land only, for there is one
land only that has a real glorious Jewish history and Jewish
past. That land is the Land of Israel ! ”
Both parties had exhausted the discussion — and, as is
usual in such cases, did not succeed in convincing each other.
Then they each went their own way.
The Zionists began to build straightway. No other
colonial settlement in the world is of nobler birth than ours
in Palestine. Tradition relates that young Rome was fed by
a she- wolf . Some day it will be told in legends that our new
settlement on old foundations was fed by a turtle-dove, by
love, faithfulness, kindhness, and brotherhness. Not wild
animals, but angels, stood round its cradle. Muses and Graces
illuminated and crowned the morning star of its noble child-
hood. Jewish thinkers Hke Leo Pinsker, Perez Smolenskin,
David Gordon; enthusiastic leaders and many others —
10 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
a kind of Jewish Puritan pioneers, the ” Bilu ” — had started
to build up the settlement even before our first and greatest,
our immortal founder and leader of modern Zionism,
Theodor Herzl, had drawn up our programme, created our
organization, founded our institutions, and had given us the
impetus, method and form of the Zionist movement.
The success of a wonderful, personal, magnetic power, the
method of large-scale propaganda, the labour through
relations with Governments had for a certain time given
Zionism a political bias. More considered and every-
day experience, on the contrary, pointed to a slow method
of practical labour. Different parties amongst the Zionists
opposed one another, and we need not be ashamed of that.
Jews are inclined to freedom in all their spiritual tendencies,
they do not easily submit to formulae, they criticize, analyse,
and search for the truth. Finally, the whole struggle was
reduced to a question of tactics. Whether one attempts to
reach the goal by means of the plough, plantations, schools,
literature, or propaganda, it is a question of time and circum-
stances. And the essential truth was, that all means must
be employed.
What was the result ? The net balance was not great ;
forty settlements, some farms, co-operative societies, Tel
Aviv, the new Achuzoth, the Carmel, the Pardes, the
Aggudath N’iaim, modern machines ; new methods of work
introduced not only among Jews, but also among Arabs ;
malaria centres disinfected ; the best conditions for planting
studied in experimental institutions ; our banks, the Bezalel,
public health centres, the music school, two well-filled
secondary schools, the girls’ school in Jaffa, the Tach’kmoni
school in the same place, the Petach-Tikwah school of
agriculture, the settlement schools, the committee organiza-
tion of the settlements, the workers’ associations, the
teachers’ union, the Hebrew newspapers and Uterature, the
” Houses of the People ” — these represent what Choveve
Zion, Baron Edmond de Rothschild and the Zionists have
created, and what we call the new colonization of Palestine.
The earher rivalries have vanished. The ChovevS Zion and
the Zionists are at one as to the policy of Zionism. The
Zionist Palestine office in Jaffa is the head-quarters of the
work of colonisation. The struggle for Hebrew has shown
how Palestine is becoming more and more an intellectual
centre. The visit of Baron Edmond de Rothschild to
Palestine in 1913 had set the seal upon this unanim-
VISIT TO PALESTINE ii
ity. Even the blind could perceive that a true Jewish
Home was in process of estabhshment. No further argu-
ments were needed. The Jewish population in the
land, although a minority, is the only one that is
growing and has grown during the past generation. It
is the only progressive population in the land, the others
are stationary in regard to numbers. Let any one go to
Palestine, not on one of Cook’s lightning tours, but as a Jew
to the land of Israel ; let him remain in the settlements but
a few weeks — that will be a certain cure for anti-Zionism.
If it should happen that any one could not be cured even in
this way, then he must unfortunately be regarded as incur-
able. We, however, know of a great many that have been
cured.
Thus the organization grew. It is sufficient to compare
the beautiful first Basle Congress of 1897 with the enormous
Vienna Congress of 19 13 ; it is sufficient to compare the
phantom Jewish National Fund of 1899 with the existing
Jewish National Fund, which can show an annual income of
over two miUion francs ; it is sufficient to compare the two
or three Zionist pamphlets of eighteen years ago with the
Zionist press and literature in existence to-day.
Thus Zionism has grown to what it is to-day for the
Jewish people : a spring of Hfe, a signpost, the foundation
of a mighty edifice.
In a few words the author can give the essence of the
personal impressions which he received during the course of
his three months’ stay in Palestine, in 1913, before the war :
a model factory of modern Jewish national Hfe ; a nursery
for rearing the fruitful parent-stems for the blossoming tree
of a living Hebraism ; a laboratory for sociological experi-
ments in self-help and self-government in Jewish economic
life ; a compendium of elements and corner-stones for the
erection of the Home ; a systematic, laborious, slow pre-
paration of the preliminary conditions for a great, healthy,
original Jewish province ; the genesis of a new world, natur-
ally with many defects, with many premature and unripe
attempts, but that was just most beautiful and most
natural in people who search and strive and venture. And
all this was enhghtened by a clear understanding, and glowed
with a youthful national enthusiasm. That is what Jewish
colonization in Palestine is.
Do not try and count it over ! The wisdom of the multi-
plication table is too dull to be able to estimate it. Do not
12 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
try and weigh it ! On the great scales of history a single unit
sometimes weighs down a hundred thousand ! Enjoy it, as
one enjoys art, or as the free soul becomes intoxicated with
and rejoices in freedom. As musical natures become en-
raptured with music, so national natures become enraptured
with national life.
And if you will have net results, then do not forget one
thing, namely, that all this has been done, not by the entire
Jewish people, but by a small handful of Jews. When this
small handful has become the entire people, then this edifice
will grow even grander. Palestine is a land that stretches
forth its hands to the future. For two thousand years it has
been ravaged by war and by misgovernment, until a country
that was once famous throughout the world for its fertility,
has become a desert land, degenerate from lack of culti-
vation. According to the statistics of the Ottoman Board
of Trade less than 9 per cent of the area of European Turkey
has been brought under cultivation, and still less of Turkey
in Asia. There are in Palestine twenty-seven inhabitants
to the square kilometre, and in the valley of the Jordan four ;
while in the irrigated districts of neighbouring Egypt ten
thousand are concentrated within the same area. Why
should not Palestine be resettled hke Egypt ? Why
should it not be made a happy home for an unfortunate
people ?
Now the Zionists, after twenty years of work, plead their
case again. They have not succeeded in putting an end to
the ” Galuth.” Their opponents maintain that they had
overestimated their strength. Perhaps so, but this does
not prove that their labours have been to no purpose. They
have laid a few foundation stones, they have shown the
way.
They defend their cause in the midst of a hell-fire. Our
ancient people that has lived so long, has now experienced
the greatest of wars, such as has never been in the world
before. We hve to-day in the most critical period of the
world’s history. It has been our lot to share in the greatest
drama which humanity has as yet lived through, not only as
spectators, but also as actors. The history of this world war
is written in letters of blood on the ancient and holy parch-
ment, on the brow of the Jew. No seismograph has indi-
cated beforehand the coming of this earthquake, of this out-
burst of the volcano of the nations. But one thing the Zionists
have foreseen : the force of national consciousness ; the flood
LAMENT OF THE DEAD
13
of hate, our pitiful situation, which cause every storm to
tear away the ground from under our feet.
Herzl had written his first pamphlet under the influence
of the Dreyfus affair. That cry of twenty years ago thunders
now in unison with the cries of mothers, wives, orphans,
from underneath the pyres and ruins which in their brutal
reaUty leave the worst imaginings of a Jeremiah far behind.
The dead arise from their graves, covered with blood,
trampled in the dust, with the fiery name of God, the
*’ Shaddai,” on their pale foreheads, and they demand to be
heard. They lament, and say :
“Vainly we strove to secure a little life — we could not
grasp it. Withered with sufferings, with pain and injury,
shivering and frozen with cold, we used to hug the earth
closely, but it would not give us warmth. We were teachers
of the most ancient peoples, but death and insult were the
recompense paid us by our pupils. We shone like the stars,
but we were treated like silkworms, which have to die, so
soon as they have spun the fine web of their threads, so soon
as they have drawn forth and sacrificed their life-blood —
they have fulfilled their duty, and farewell !
” On our shoulders we bore the burdens of our masters’
interests, just as the sea bears the Httle fishing-boats on its
waves. We were more faithful in guarding their property than
dogs are. For the labour which we performed, for our hard
and humble services, for the sacrifice of all our strength on
their altars, for the resigned and patient suffering of all the
tortures of exile, we did not receive even the reward of
protection extended to the beast of burden, to the cow, or
to the sheep for its wool. Deprived of all human rights, even
stripped of the scantiest rags of toleration, we wandered and
fell under the iron yoke of serfdom, like a weary and im-
potent herd of cattle driven over rocks and brambles. They
felled us as a forest is felled, and we went down without the
slightest possibility of suitable self-protection, with the dull
thud of an old oak prostrated by a storm, yet with the pain
of bereaved, insulted and humbled human beings. We are
the victims not of the war, but of the ‘ Galuth/ Let no
one talk to us about Belgium, Serbia. Theirs is the well-
known scourge of mankind taking the shape of tyranny,
militarism, war. Had we suffered only from these things,
then we should have suffered but in common with others!
Our misery, however, is of a peculiar kind. It is a double
misery : we suffer with the rest, and in addition we suffer
14 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
specially as a people without a country. Belgium and
Serbia and Montenegro are nations with countries of their
own ; they cannot be annihilated, they must be restored.
We envy Belgium in her misfortune, and sorely assailed
Serbia ; we behold the strength and health of the Polish
peasant. Truly, he has been ruined for the time being, but
he has his country, and though he has been driven away ten
times by the fury of war he will return, and once again plant
himself on his native soil, where his golden corn will grow
again. Not only could he not be uprooted, but he will re-
gain more than he had lost : a new, free, independent
Poland !
” Ever)^where the rights of nations are triumphant. Let it
not be said that only countries that had been stolen fifty or
a hundred years ago shall be returned to their former lawful
owners. Whoever says so, falsifies history, either intention-
ally or unintentionally. The right of the Greeks to Greece is
also a right which has remained through thousands of years.
The right of the Armenians to Armenia has also been sup-
pressed by force throughout the centuries. And yet these
rights will be granted. Let it not be said either, that a
nation robbed of the country must have remained on its
native soil, or otherwise it will have lost its rights. That is
not true. More Greeks live outside Greece than in Greece,
and there are still other nations, the majority of whose
citizens dwell outside the frontiers of their old home. Nor
let it be said that it is sufficient to grant equal rights to man-
kind. Were not equal rights given to the Greeks — and
yet the problem was not solved till Greece redeemed herself !
“We, the orphans, the disinherited, the playthings in
history’s sports, the step-children of a world founded on
nationaUties — we summon the world before the high court
of history.
” For two thousand years past they put us off with excuses
and false promises. Civilization has been progressing for
thousands of years : mankind now flies loftier than the eagle^
and dives deeper than the Leviathan. Has it become better
for us ? Have we not remained the same scapegoats from
the time of Rome to the Crusades, from these to the ‘ Haida-
maks,’ and from them to the Pogroms of the present
day ?
” We, the wandering souls, demand our rest. Enough of
wanderings and being bandied about ! Give us back our
body, our country ! We want to be equal with the
THE IMMORTAL RIGHT
X5
rest, suffer with the rest, fight with the rest, hve with
the rest.”
Thus lament the dead, teaching the Hving. Will the world
not Hsten to them ?
” What do you wish ? ” the Zionists are asked. They
reply : We want a home in the land of Israel. On the day
of Judgment, when every historical right — from the smallest
to the greatest — is announced, elevated, proclaimed, and
demanded ; when even the weakest, the most doubtful
claims of half-forgotten and but recently-awakened httle
peoples, based on old, torn, ambiguous and now scarcely
legible documents and traditions, assert themselves and de-
mand rights of ownership ; when history takes its place as
judge on the throne of justice, and the national territorial
idea is accepted as the world’s code, in order to resolve every
doubt and to arbitrate every dispute ; when the great in power
penitently declare that every injustice, especially towards
suffering peoples, must be righted ; when these things come
to pass, then (we Zionists say) the Jewish people is in
duty bound to proclaim its old, holy, historical right to the
heritage of its heroes, its prophets, its civilization, its
religion, its language, and its labours !
It is an ancient right, but it has not lapsed. It is the
ancient oath, the ancient covenant. No right has been
earned more honourably. None has been paid for with more
and nobler blood. None is so highly estabhshed and deeply
founded.
In order not to lay itself open to a verdict of letting its
claim go by default, the Jewish people will have to proclaim
its immortal right to the land of Israel. It is the sacred duty-
right of loyal children towards their parents. Not to demand
the land of Israel means that we tacitly waive our rights to
^it, and this means a waiving of our rights to everything :
tradition, honour, justice, the law of Moses, and the general
historical idea.
We don’t trust a man who denies his mother, however
much of a patriot he may be in his country. He is an
opportunist, but no patriot, because patriotism is ideahsm.
Nothing will daunt us in our resolve to proclaim solemnly
our historical right and to demand it with all our energy.
Do not trouble us with intimidations, on the score of a pos-
sible growth of anti-Semitism, and so on ! These fears are
senseless. Anti-Semitism is a consequence not of Zionism, but
of the ” Galuth.” Those who have the courage of their con-
i6 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
victions and a sense of honour, are not to be influenced by
craven fears. Our duty it is to proclaim our right, and we
shall fulfil this duty. Will this bring us sufferings ? Good :
we are prepared for that. Martyrs from of old as we are, we
have been through fire and water during thousands of years,
we have been the target of every attack, the victims of every
persecution, and we fear no chicanery when it is a question
of fulfiUing a holy duty of our conscience.
Whoever understands Zionism, knows it is not our inten-
tion to raise conflicts. We stand for a peaceful movement.
We began in a time of peace and we desire to renew our work
and substantially to enlarge it, in the coming time of peace.
We did not wish to harm anyone, to wrong anyone, and we
wish to do so still less, if possible, now than before. We wish
to make our country a model of social justice and human
brotherhood ; the spirit of our prophets shall fill our land,
and the ancient Hebrew genius shall there have its dwelling-
place.
We certainly, not less than all the other Jews and all just
men, are strongly interested and are anxious that we, wher-
ever we live, wherever we are, and wish to be citizens,
should have our rights secured. Where the Jews are not yet
emancipated, they shall be emancipated ; where they are
but half emancipated, their emancipation shall be completed
and perfected ; and where they are already emancipated,
their emancipation shall be in no way checked or diminished.
This question of rights we had better formulate in the follow-
ing manner : Not that rights should be given us, but that
our rights shall no longer be filched away, restricted
and encroached upon wherever we have our domicile,
wherever we fulfil our duties, and bear all burdens
in order to defend the soil of the country to the death ;
wherever we work, live, and die together with its other in-
habitants. Not that we should be emancipated, but that
people should emancipate themselves from the instinct of
persecution, from mahce, from envy, which find expres-
sion in various forms : in pogroms, in boycott, in social
ostracism, in open or masked disabihties ; that we should
not be shut up in cages like wild animals, whether it be in
the brutal form of SiGheUo, a ” pale of settlement,” or in the
more subtle form of social exclusion and coldly poHte hypo-
critical repulse : whether it be finally, in that cunning form
not of Anti-Semitism, but of Asemitism which declares
that, as in the case of poisons, the country can at best
A POLITICAL PROBLEM 17
absorb only a limited quantity of Jews, while any excess is
dangerous.
If the civilized world really intends to make an end of war,
then, also, this war against the Jews must not be over-
looked. It is a war in time of peace, a war that has not the
heroic character of a struggle between two opponents equal
in arms, but the character of a systematic and brutal
oppression of the weak by the strong.
That is the problem of the rights of the Jews in the
countries of the Diaspora 1
Some sophists have, in their speculative, casuistical way,
evolved a strange doctrine. They assert, that when the
‘ Jews surrender their claims to the land of Israel, when they
deny their own nationality, then they will ” receive rights.”
Pedants and arm-chair theorists as they are, they paint in
their luxurious imagination a picture that recalls the classical
example of Paris with the apple : in one hand, Palestine ;
in the other, rights in the Diaspora. And as they point to
this picture, they cry out to the Jews : Choose ! One or the
other !
Such pictures may please children, but not grown-up
men — since children are innocent and do not understand the
laws of logic. There are no two kinds of truth, nor of justice,
only one. If justice is done to us, then our right to Palestine
will be recognized, and we shall also be left in peace in the
Diaspora.
Be assured the Land of Israel will not injure our situa-
tion in the Diaspora. Only Zionism, not self -betrayal, is
calculated to lend us authority and prestige in the world.
Avoid the old error, avoid renunciation, stand true to your
flag, to righteousness, like men !
We are asked. What are your politics ? Others say that
pohtics should be indeed excluded. Zionism must be only
either colonization or a spiritual movement. We must be
Zionists in colonization, in the spirit, and in religion. In
what each says, there is some truth. The error Hes only in
the fact that in each of these assertions, a partial truth
claims to represent the whole truth. Zionism is not a part ;
it is the totality, the sum, the synthesis of these efforts.
However little Zionists wish to enter into politics they
cannot close their eyes to the fact that Zionism is — at least,
in part — a pohtical problem. However spiritual its argu-
ments, its origins and its motives may be, however meta-
physical its aims may be, and however much its methods
i8 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
may accordingly strive to remain pure, neverthless, it is
concerned with the problem of people desiring to settle in a
particular country, under a particular form of social life.
They, consequently, have to strive for a certain degree of
political self-government, whether it be high or low, and
thus they must come into relations with other groups and
states already in existence, already formed, already in
possession and having rights. The boundaries of rights will
have to be drawn up, and these will soon become frontiers of
existing spheres of influences, and these again, later on, will
need to grow to new forms. Even if Zionism should devote
itself entirely and with absolute exclusiveness to spiritual
matters, its centre of colonization will have a political aspect,
which must be developed as such. It is a good thing that
the war has thrust political temptations upon Zionism.
Nothing can become of greater advantage to it, than that
it should always grow more clearly conscious of being some-
thing practical, the creator of hfe, of being conditioned and
Hmited by frontiers, and not that it should simply fill the role
of redressing grievances from a single point.
The Zionist policy must always be controlled by the
national idea. Great changes will arise in the poHtical
situation in the world, the extent of which cannot as yet be
surveyed in detail. But one thing is already certain ; the
national, the historical idea will be victorious. The people
that suffer most, the small and weak people, must weigh on
the scales of the coming changes in proportion not only to
their physical strength, but also to their moral strength, and
in proportion to the intensity of their will-power and self-
determination — and this will-power and this self-determin-
ation, although at all times needing and capable of de-
velopment, develops most rapidly under the influence
of such moments as the present. The first preliminary
condition for poHtical success, therefore, is self-determina-
tion and will-power. The first and most important poHtical
task is the awakening of will-power. Only then commences
the poHcy of finding support in the outer world. And under
this head we know of one policy only, namely, truth —
absolute and unconditional truth. Out of love for it
Zionists desire to be just to aU men, even to their opponents.
This may be disagreeable to short-sighted people, but it
does not trouble Zionists. Should truth beckon in one direc-
tion and the greatest successes in the other, Zionists should
without a moment’s hesitation choose rather the former
NO OPPORTUNIST POLICY
19
and exclaim, ” Away with falsehood/’ Only truth can be
of service to us ; wherever any shadow whatsoever falls upon
that, there can be no place for us.
No cause that is unjust, even if at the first glance it
appears to bring immediate help, and is advanced by people
who wish us well, is worthy of Zionist support, and, likewise,
every righteous cause, even though it appears to be against
us, and is put forward by people who are indifferent and
even opposed to us, is deserving of our support. For high
above the plans dictated by benevolence or malice, stands
the loftiest cause which so rules it that injustice cannot help
Zionism, and that justice, on the contrary, must help it.
It is sometimes pointed out that certain among those who
profess sympathy for Zionism do not exactly belong to the
most trusty friends of the Jews, while, on the contrary, many
so-called Liberals seem to be opposed to Zionism. Truly,
we say to you : this is of no concern to us. Personal motives
have no interest for us ; we do not sit in judgment upon
individuals. We are neither flattered by friends nor deterred
by the envious. The Zionist’s only concern is the righteous
cause.
The Zionist policy is one of principles, and not an oppor-
tunist pohcy. A poHcy founded on principles can only base
itself on truth. The assistance of strangers can be of service
to us only when it sees in us the truth, sees us as we really
are, as we are in the continuity of our history, in our numbers,
in our distress and in our hopes. Not the plans of any in-
dividual, whether personal or general, only fideHty to the
axioms of international morality can help us. And if it be
possible to obtain such assistance, then it can be attained
only through a leading policy of true equaUty, but never
through assimilation, which is opposed to the truth.
Truly, to be on an equaUty with others means the solving
of our problem on national fines. That in the highest sense
is equaHty of opportunity. If the principle of self-determin-
ation is appHed to all, then it must be applied to us too. If
historical rights are recognized, then ours must also be recog-
nized. It is right and fair that Armenia should become
Armenian ; it is just as right and fair that the Land of Israel
should become Israelitish. Grant equal rights and com-
pensatory justice ; all else is hatred, cowardice, hypocrisy,
ambiguity.
The error of Jewish policy since the beginning of the last
century lay in the fact that it was an opportunist policy.
20 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
We tried to please different parties, to utilize political
situations. Perhaps this was formerly an opportunity — ^we
have now outgrown this standpoint. Human progress, Hke
every development, advances ever further and further.
Every new advance leads to a new stage that could be
reached only through the earlier stages, and every new stage
when reached has been reached only to be left behind in its
turn. As soon as a stage has been reached, the time has
once more arrived for leaving it. That is the essential
reason why the Jewish problem has now become a national
problem. Hence it is the purest childishness to wish to solve
the problem by the means adopted by the Sanhedrin in Paris,
in 1806.
It is not, however, to be supposed that because Zionists
hold to a policy of principles they are on this account in-
capable of profiting from favourable opportunities, of utilizing
a fortunate moment, that may come and bring more with it
than many years of hard toil. ” Whoever wants to sail to
the new-discovered isles must use the winds as they blow.”
The centre of gravity Hes in the Jews alone, in their will-
power, in the independence of their spirit.
The Jewish people have seen the dominion of Eg5^t,
Assyria, Babylon and Rome, and still survive. Under the
standards of Zion the Jewish people will rise to new Hfe.
What ought Jews to do ? To this question we answer :
In these serious times all Jews should be united, all Jewish
organizations, parties and communities should set to work,
by all lawful means, through the press, hterature, propa-
ganda and personal connections, to attain the recognition
of a national home for our people in the Land of Israel;
and at the same time to carry through the abolition
of all injustice against the Jews in the countries of the
Diaspora.
And in view of the enormous importance of the already
existing Jewish colonization in Palestine for our future, and,
also, of the salvation of the Jewish people from want and
misery accentuated by the war, the greatest possible assist-
ance must be given to Palestine and to the suffering masses
of Jews in the Diaspora. For the sake of these causes, and
especially for the first, the Zionist Organization all over the
world should not only be maintained, but also placed in a
position to develop and enlarge its activities.
ZIONIST PROPAGANDA IN WARTIME 21
ZIONIST PROPAGANDA IN WARTIME
In the above the Zionist policy has been sketched.
Experience has by this time shown that in spite of the in-
credible difficulties of all kinds, Zionism has not only not
lost its power, but has also actively developed its work.
The present war has not affected the unity of the Zionist
idea nor has it affected the unity of the Zionist Organization.
As the Organization was established on the federative
principle, it was found possible to continue the essential
work of the movement by utiHsing the separate organiza-
tions of the different countries. The work of propaganda
and the collection of funds, so far from diminishing,
actually made great progress. The societies already in
existence continued their work very effectively, and a
considerable number of new societies came into being. Die
Welt, the central organ of the movement, had, however, to
be suspended ; but a series of new Zionist pubUcations made
their appearance. The Zionist press — ^in Russia particularly
— ^made great headway. The Zionist weekly, Razswiet,
which is published in the Russian language, increased
its circulation threefold. Three new daiUes, Ha’am in
Hebrew, Das Togblatt and Der Telegraf in Yiddish, were
established, and rapidly attained a circulation comparable
to the great European daily papers. A crowd of new
journalists and publicists accepting the Zionist platform,
joined the old guard of writers and workers in the cause.
The Yiddish Press in Poland, which numbers its readers by
the hundred thousand, put themselves at the disposal of the
Zionist movement. One in particular, which had hitherto
been territorialist, and only lukewarm towards Zionism,
declared openly its acceptance of the Zionist programme.
In England Zionist activity in press and literature
made remarkable progress, such as had scarcely been
imagined possible in this country. It is worthy of note that,
quite apart from the Zionist Press proper, the Jewish non-
Zionist Press evinced a much keener interest in the move-
ment. The world’s general Press, in all languages, devoted
to Zionism an amount of space second only to the events of
the war. The mere fact that at a time such as the present,
when the world is in the throes of a universal struggle,
and every nation is concerned^ for its own safety, and
even existence, so much interest was directed to our
22 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
movement throws a dazzling light upon the naive absurdity
of the anti-Zionist assertion, that the whole movement is
nothing more than an Utopia.
The Zionists have long realized the need of public
meetings and discussions. The Zionist movement is
the only Jewish national and democratic movement
to attach great importance to the free exchange of
opinions and to break down the somewhat autocratic
method of conducting Jewish affairs in favour with the
Kehillah leaders. It was the first movement to replace the
dry bones of bureaucracy by the introduction of universal
Jewish suffrage as a means of dealing with Jewish pubhc
affairs. As the Zionist movement in pre-war times found
full expression in conferences and public meetings, it was to
be feared that the War, by reducing greatly the facilities of
communication and intercourse, would seriously affect this
form of activity. But this was not the case. The long record
of the meetings and conferences held since the outbreak of
the war, and which by no means exhausts the total number,
gives some notion of the vast scope of this form of propa-
ganda.
We will make a short survey of the most important
dates in Zionist activity during the course of the war, in
chronological order.
Conferences.
September, 1915.
Zionist Conference — Dordrecht — Holland.
Roumania. Annual Meeting of the Roumanian
Zionist Federation, November 7th and 8th, held in
Galatz. Country divided into four districts for
Zionist work : Galatz, Bucharest, Jassy, Foscani.
Canada. General Jewish Conference held in
Montreal, November 14th and 15th, together with the
Annual Meeting of the Canadian Zionist Federation,
presided over by Clarence de Sola.
December ^th, 1915.
West Austrian — Galician — and Bukowina Zionist
Conferences (Adolf Stand in the chair) . Resolutions : —
” The Assembly expects to see the Jewish
problem discussed at the peace conference, and
trusts that the Actions Committee will find suit-
able means and ways to create a united manifesta-
tion of the Jews of all countries for the demand of
CONFERENCES IN 1915-1916
23
securing for the Jews their civil and political
equality of rights all over the world, and in the
nationality states also recognition of their national
existence.
” The Actions Committee is asked to prepare
everything in a suitable manner, in order that
the interests of poUtical Zionism may be secured
before the Forum of the future Peace Congress.”
December 26th and 2yth, 1915.
Holland. At Nymegen one hundred and twenty
delegates attended.
December, 1915.
Manchester. Conference of EngUsh ” Poalei Zion.”
Delegates from all parts of the country attended.
January 1st, 1916.
England. Conference convened by E.Z.F. attended
by Rabbis, delegates of Synagogues, Friendly Societies
and Trade Unions.
January ^th, 1916,
America. Annual Conference of the Federation of
” Knights of Zion,” at Chicago. The Federation has
fifty-three active branches and three thousand
members.
January, 1916.
Australia. Annual Conference of the Sydney
Zionist Society.
February 6th, 19 16.
America. Annual Convention of the Zionist
Council of Greater New York.
February i^th, 1916.
England. Annual Conference of the English
Zionist Federation at Manchester.
1916.
Mizrachi. The Annual Conference of the ** Miz-
rachi” was held at Chicago, May 26th-30th. The
*’ Mizrachi ” of America comprises one hundred and
three associate-societies and twenty-four synagogues.
The membership is six thousand.
Some of the principal American Rabbis attended
the Conference.
A special Palestine Bureau was created. A new
union, called ” Achi Samach,” was formed, for the
encouragement of the sale of Palestinian products.
24 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
1916.
Bombay. A Meeting of the Magen David Congrega-
tion was held at Bombay. The proceedings were all in
Hebrew. Sir Jacob EHas Sassoon, Bart. (1844-1916),
was re-elected president.
May zSth and 2gth, 19 16.
Scandinavia. The Twelfth Annual Conference of
Scandinavian Zionists was held at Copenhagen.
Thirty-one delegates from all parts of the country
were present. Various resolutions were passed, ex-
pressing confidence in the work of the Central
Executive.
1916.
1916.
1916.
Switzerland. A Conference of the Swiss Zionist
Federation was held at Berne on June ist.
South Africa. The Annual Conference of the
South African Zionist Federation was held at
Johannesburg on April 30th. Over one hundred
delegates were present.
Canada. ” Poalei Zion ” of Montreal had a series
of Conferences on June 2nd-4th.
America. Conference of American Zionist Federa-
tion held at Philadelphia on July 2nd. Over five
hundred delegates present.
July Sth, 1916.
Conference at New York of the ” Young Judea.’*
The membership is three thousand five hundred.
September i^th-i^th, 1916.
Poland. A Zionist Conference was held in Warsaw,
attended by one hundred and twenty-five delegates
from Warsaw and the PoUsh provincial cities.
The following resolution was passed : —
” I. That the Central Committee estabUsh a
special Palestine Office, to gather information
and material with respect to the present situation
in Palestine and with respect to the possibiUties
for work after the war.
“2. That it elaborate this material and spread
it within wide circles. Further, it has to organize
pioneer groups, who are willing to go to Palestine,
CONFERENCES IN 1916
25
as well as to work out a scheme tor the preparation
of these pioneers.”
September, 1916.
Russia. ” Poalei Zion ” Conference — the first
since the outbreak of the war. Resolution passed : —
” That we agitate among the Jewish masses in-
structing them the only solution for the Jewish
problem is the creation of a Jewish Home in
Palestine.”
September 18th, 1916.
Conference of Zionist speakers, held at New York.
Bohemia. The Annual Conference of Bohemian
Zionists was held at Prague on November ist.
America. Zionist Students’ Organization of America
held its Second Annual Conference, November,
1916.
November i4thr-igth.
America ” Poalei Zion ” Conference at Boston.
Attended by one hundred and nine delegates from the
United States and Canada.
(During the year two thousand new members
had been enrolled. Juvenile Societies, with eighteen
branches and over one thousand members, had been
formed.)
1916.
1916.
England. On December 24th and 25th the Order of
Ancient Maccabeans held their Annual Grand Beacon
Meeting in Manchester. Resolution : —
” That this Grand Beacon Meeting reiterates its
loyalty to the Zionist programme, as endorsed from
Congress to Congress, and expresses the hope that
the time may not be far distant when our brethren
will be accorded full civil and poHtical rights all
over the world, and that the order co-operate with
bodies that strive for the above objects.”
Holland. The Seventeenth Annual Conference of
the Dutch Zionist Federation was held at the Hague
on December 24th and 25th, 1916.
About one hundred and twenty delegates were
present, including representatives of the *’ Poalei
Zion” and the Belgian Zionist Federation.
26 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
The Dutch Federation comprises twenty-six
societies, with a total membership of one thousand
six hundred and sixty.
Collections : Palestine Fund, 11,453 j^. ; Central
Fund, 913/. ; National Fund, 10,709/.
1917.
1917.
1917.
1917.
1917.
Poland. The Annual Meeting of the Warsaw
Zionists, held on January nth, attended by a
thousand shekel payers.
America. In March, a Conference of Jewish
Socialist Workers was held in New York, and attended
by four hundred delegates. The Basle programme
was adopted.
Mizrachi. Over two hundred delegates attended
the ”Mizrachi” Convention at Pittsburg, where the
dehberations extended for over five days. Fifty of
the most prominent orthodox Rabbis of the country
attended. The ” Mizrachi ” has a hundred and nine-
teen branches in ninety-five cities spread over twenty-
eight States.
America. ” Knights of Zion ” held their Twen-
tieth Annual Convention at MinneapoUs and St.
Paul. The ‘* Knights of Zion ” had seventy-six
societies with a membership of four thousand two
hundred.
America. Hebraists Convention took place in
New York on February loth, nth and 12th. Many
Hebrew scholars from all parts of the country were
present.
America. The Eleventh Annual Meeting of the
Zionist Council of New York was held on February
i6th, attended by eighty-eight delegates, represent-
ing thirty societies.
England. The Annual Conference of the E.Z.F.
was held in February in London. About sixty
delegates were present.
CONFERENCES IN 1917
27
1917.
1917.
1917.
1917.
1917.
1917.
1917.
1917.
1917.
Switzerland. The Swiss Zionist Federation held a
Conference at Berne on February i8th. Thirty-five
delegates attended.
Russia. On March 28th-30th there was held a
Conference of the Central Institutions of the Zionist
Organization. About fifty delegates attended.
Conference of all Russian Zionist Organizations,
held in Moscow, April 3rd. Dr. E. W. Tschlenow
presided.
Greece. On April 9th a Mass Meeting, attended
by over three thousand persons, was held at
Salonica. After addresses delivered by several
speakers, a resolution was passed urging the restora-
tion of the oldest nation and its regeneration in
Palestine.
Belgian Zionists. On April 29th the Belgian
Zionist Federation held a Conference at Scheveningen,
Holland.
Australia.
March i8th.
England.
May 20th.
Annual Meeting held at Sydney,
Special Conference E.Z.F. in London,
Russia-Turkestan. Early in May a Conference of
Turkestan Zionists was held at Samarcand. The
delegates were both Ashkenazi and Sephardi. Thirty
delegates attended, besides delegates for the Bokhara
Jews, and two hundred guests.
A Zionist Central Committee was formed for
Turkestan.
Poland. June 3rd-5th. Conference of Zionist
Central Committee for Poland, held in Warsaw.
Russia. On May 24th (O.S.) the Seventh Con-
ference of Russian Zionists was held at Petrograd,
and was attended by five hundred and fifty-two dele-
28 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
gates, representing one hundred and forty thousand
shekel payers, from six hundred and forty towns
and villages. Eleven delegates came from Siberia.
Bokhara and Mountain Jews were represented.
Twenty-four delegates were soldiers coming by special
permission of the Commander-in-Chief, who got free
passes. Five hundred guests came from the country
and one thousand guests from Petrograd were
present. Ninety representatives of Russian papers
were present. The Foreign Secretary, Tere-
tschenko, sent greetings and best wishes for complete
success.
Dr. E. W. Tschlenow’s speech was reprinted in
half a million copies for the soldiers.
A meeting of Zionist Women was held in the hall
of Kiew University in May. More than one thousand
five hundred Jewish women attended.
1917.
1917.
In 1913 there were only twenty-six thousand
shekel payers in Russia — nov/ one hundred and
forty thousand. Resolution passed : —
” The Seventh Zionist Russian Conference pro-
claims its firm conviction that the nations, in sett-
ling the bases of the new national and political life,
shall be conscious of the clearly manifested will of
the Jewish people to colonize Palestine again as
their national centre, and that they shall create
conditions enabling the unhindered evolutions and
concentration of all Jewish forces, for the purpose
of bringing about a regeneration of Palestine.”
A representative body of the Jewish people should
be admitted to the approaching Peace Conference,
which shall obtain attention for the historic and
national rights of the Jewish people.
America. Independent Order ” Brith Shalom ”
held their Thirteenth Annual Conference in Atlantic
City on June 13th. Over six hundred delegates
were present. The resolution passed commenced
thus: —
I9I7.
I9I7.
igiy.
1917.
CONFERENCES IN 1917 29
” Whereas the Independent Order has adopted
the Zionist platform in spirit and in fact, and has
pledged itself to the furtherance of all principles
it stands for, etc., etc.”
America. The Twentieth Conference of American
Zionists opened at Baltimore on June 24th. Over a
thousand delegates were present.
1917.
America. Twentieth Annual Convention of Pro-
gressive Order of the West was held at Detroit,
Michigan. The Order has a membership of twenty
thousand, and declared its allegiance to the Zionist
cause.
1917.
1917.
America. Conference of ” Young Judeans.” One
hundred and twenty-five delegates present, repre-
senting five thousand members. The ” Young
Judeans” collected 3500 dollars for the Jewish
National Fund.
England. Union of Jewish Friendly Societies,
comprising fifty thousand members, adopt the Basle
programme.
Conference of the Order of Ancient Maccabeans,
held at Manchester, July 17th. Membership of the
Order 2200.
Canada. The Fifteenth Annual Conference of
Canadian Zionists took place at Winnipeg in July.
Delegates from seventy-seven towns, of three hundred
and fourteen Jewish organizations, attended.
The Governor of Manitoba came to the Conference,
and expressed his sympathy with Zionism.
Russia. Poalei Zion. Conference in Kiew — Sep-
tember 8th. More than one hundred and sixty
delegates attended.
Greece. Salonica. Great Meeting, attended by
three thousand persons at Salonica, on 9th of Ab.
30 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
1917.
America. The ” Mizrachi ” in America celebrated
in August the Six-hundred-and-fiftieth Anniversary
of the First Settlement in Palestine by R’ Moses ben
Nachman (Ramban). The ** Mizrachi ” started a
Fund of 100,000 dollars, to aid Colonization and
Industrial Development in Palestine.
1917.
1917.
1917.
1917.
1917.
Poland. The Third Delegates’ Conference of the
Zionist Organization in Poland was opened in Warsaw
on October 28th, 1917. More than three hundred and
sixty delegates attended, representing forty thousand
shekel payers.
Poland. Fifth Conference of the ” Poalei Zion”
of Poland, was held in Warsaw. Over forty-four
delegates, representing twenty-six towns, partici-
pated in the Conference. The Organization had
forty-six district groups, with a membership of eight
thousand.
America. September 5th. Conference of Rabbis
resolved to appeal to various powers, particularly
President Wilson, asking them to give their consider-
ation to the question of the Restoration of Palestine
to the Jewish people.
England. In October, Zionist Demonstrations
took place all over the country. In seventy-one
synagogues, one hundred and twenty-three lodges
and associations, and in fifty-four Zionist societies,
resolutions were passed reques
England. In October, Zionist Demonstrations
took place all over the country. In seventy-one
synagogues, one hundred and twenty-three lodges
and associations, and in fifty-four Zionist societies,
resolutions were passed requesting the British Govern-
ment to use its best endeavours to bring about a
Restoration of Palestine as a National Home for the
Jewish people.
Holland. Congress of Jews resident in the Nether-
lands, held in Amsterdam on November i8th, for
considering emancipation of Jews, recognition of
national rights in national States, and national
concentration of the Jewish people in Palestine.
THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND 31
One of the most popular of Zionist funds is the Jewish
National Fund. This Fund is outside the realm of dis-
cussion, and deals exclusively with hard facts, i.e.,
financial contributions from all parts of the world. The
Jewish National Fund is in a very real sense an index of
the people’s will. It would seem that the terrible misery
of the Jewish masses occasioned by so many expulsions,
evacuations, and loss of Ufe and property would have had
the effect of, if not entirely cutting off this source of revenue,
at least, seriously reducing it. In point of fact, the reverse
is shown by the figures.
The income of the Fund during the last few months of the
year 1914 and during the year 1915, was about two-thirds of
the previous years. But in the year 1916 the National Fund
received about 1,000,000 francs, which equals the amount in
1913. During the first half of 1917 the average monthly con-
tributions were doubled. The latest date up to which exact
figures for the various countries are available is September
1st, 1917. During the eight months from January to
September, 1917, more than 1,300,000 francs had been re-
corded. During the last four months of the year approxi-
mately the same amount was received, that is, the contribu-
tions were doubled once more in relation to the immediately
preceding rate. At the present moment the contributions
to the National Fund amount to about 150,000 francs per
month.
The results attained by the National Fund must be at-
tributed to the general growth of the Zionist movement as
well as to the effective organization of its propaganda, to the
popularity of its fundamental idea — the acquisition of land
as National property — and the importance attached by
Jewry at large to the role that the National Fund will have
to discharge in the forthcoming colonization of Palestine.
Contributions to the Jewish National Fund from the
different countries in the year 1917 were as follows :
Russia, Rbl. 475,312 ; United States, $73,502 ; Holland,
Fl. 28,767 ; England, £1396 is. lod. ; Argentina, Pesos
13.378 ; Canada, $4056 ; South Africa, £639 8s. 4d. ;
Switzerland, Frs. 11,572 ; Belgium, Frs. 8,329 ; France
(including Tunis), Frs. 6,978 ; Egypt, £255 lis. 4d. ; Greece,
Frs. 6,425 ; Sweden, Kr. 2,542 ; Denmark, Kr. 2,447.
Various countries, about Frs. 600,000. The total amounts
to Frs. 1,747,278. At the rate of exchange before the war
it would be Frs. 2,730,011.
32
THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
Statistical Table of Annual Income in Francs
Country,
1914.
1915.
1916.
United States . . .
I97>3ii
291,604
268,317
Russia
184,334
30,120
81,336
Holland .
10,662
13,972
35,921
Argentine
4,196
4,334
22,807
England .
24>655
12,061
20,766
Roumania
15,532
23,997
19,021
South Africa
27,511
21,905
15,001
Scandinavia
807
1,715
4,886
Canada .
21,951
23,129
10,296
Switzerland
3,854
3,748
7,296
Greece
5,755
4,545
4,410
Belgium .
10,472
—
4,161
Egypt. .
2,845
832
3,382
France
2,115
1,862
2,992
Far East .
1,377
280
2,562
Australia and
New Zealand
3,305
1,080
1,915
Italy . . .
1,630
2,641
1,312
Portugal .
—
280
937
Brazil . .
1,430
1,082
125
New Zealand
—
522
Other countries
224,962
197,597
425.110
744,704
636,784
933,075
With regard to the Zionist Organization, it must be stated
that some of its functions, particularly those which were
centralized in the headquarters, such as the periodical meet-
ings of the Greater Actions Committee and the permanent
contact and co-operation between the members of the
Inner Actions Committee, had to be suspended. The Zionist
Congress, the chief organ of the movement, which elects the
executive of all the officers of the movement, to decide all
questions of poUcy, could not be held owing to the war, and as
a result the position had to remain as settled by the Congress
of 1913. As, however, the events of the war threw upon the
Organization not less but very much more responsibility
than previously, and confronted the existing executive with
problems of the greatest urgency and importance, new
RELIEF WORK 33
instruments had necessarily to be created to meet the new
situation and to carry on the work of the movement.
In America, where the movement began to spread with
great rapidity, the American Provisional Committee for
General Zionist Affairs was formed in 1914, very soon after
the outbreak of the war, and conducted the affairs of the
movement with great skill. Their efforts in connection with
Palestine rehef were beyond all praise, and constitute one
of the brightest pages in the history of the movement.
In Copenhagen, also, a Bureau was opened, which
rendered invaluable services to the cause.
ZIONISM AND JEWISH RELIEF WORK
The greater part of the practical work of the Zionist
Organization consisted of Relief Work for Jewish sufferers
from the war. The terrible catastrophe which fell upon
Russian Poland, GaUcia, Bukovina, Lithuania, Zamut and
Courland, affected the Jews in a unique way. Hundreds of
towns and villages, in which Jewish inhabitants had dwelt
and woven into their lives the threads of their own charac-
teristic customs for many generations, in which they had
faithfully preserved their ancient spiritual treasures in spite
of misery and poverty, which had been a perennial source
of inspiration and a rich storehouse for the Judaism of the
whole world, which had nourished and sustained almost the
whole House of Israel in the Diaspora, suddenly became a
field of slaughter and the arena of the grimmest struggle in
the world’s history. Troops in numbers never seen before,
with weapons of destruction, threatening to reduce the
world to ashes, passed Hke angels of destruction to and fro
over the battlefields, leaving not a stone intact, not a blade
of grass, or a hving man or beast. Thus far the wounds and
misfortunes which befell the Jews were no different from
the wounds and misfortunes of the other inhabitants. But
there must be added the special Jewish affliction in these
countries, the persecution and the fierce anti- Jewish feehng
which were the special characteristics of the ancient regime
in Russia, which was wont to take advantage of every op-
portunity of avenging itself on the Jews, attacking them and
holding them up to scorn on every kind of pretext and false
accusation. This made the war a specially terrible pheno-
menon for the Jews : it produced a war within a war.
The war called upon the Jews to make sacrifices in equal
measure with all the other inhabitants of these countries ;
II.— D
34 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
their youth and their strength were laid on the altar of the
land of their birth ; they also bore the burden of all the
taxes and payments which the other inhabitants had to bear ;
they put forward tremendous efforts as tradesmen and
workers, as doctors and nurses ; they were active workers
in all departments directly and indirectly connected with
the war. Yet side by side with this they had to face an in-
sufferable hatred, they had to wage a separate war with the
powerful, who strove to reduce to nothingness the Httle
remnant which the war itself could not utterly destroy.
That this impression became current among the Jews was
inevitable, in consequence of an old phenomenon which
appeared before them in a new guise. We refer to the
curious mixture of expulsion and evacuation, of pogroms
and slaughters, of which they were the victims. They were
accustomed, from long and bitter experience, to expulsions
from without the pale of settlement into the regions of the
pale, from villages to towns, and to the suffering occasioned
by the Russo-Turkish and Russo-Japanese wars ; but these
expulsions occurred when conditions in Russia itself were
almost normal, and when the Jews who were left untouched
by the decree of expulsion were able to render assistance to
their unfortunate brethren. The combination of the two
forms of trials, of war and of persecution by their fellow-
citizens, was more than even a nation inured to suffering
could bear. It was as though this nation, which had been
a wanderer from time immemorial, had only just begun
its wanderings. They were no ordinary wanderers — not
merely expelled and outlawed ; but they were taken and
hurled as out of the middle of a sling from province to pro-
vince and from district to district. Railway carriages were
not enough to hold them, so they were transported in cattle-
trucks, the doors of which were locked to prevent escape on
the way. The cattle-trucks were not sufficient to cope with
the numbers and horse-vans were impressed, and as the
horse-vans were not sufficient, even though the Jews paid
their last kopecks for places in them, they were sent on foot.
Bands of wanderers — consisting of women, children, aged,
weak, sick and infirm — were accordingly dragged, driven,
knouted along every kind of road and over every kind of
obstacle, not like cattle beneath the watchful eye of the
herdsman, not even Uke animals led to the slaughter, on
whom some mercy is taken because they can be used, but
simply like wild beasts pursued by huntsmen ; whoever fell
THE RUSSIAN EVACUATIONS 35
by the way fell without attention, whoever fell sick was
ruthlessly left behind. Families were split up, and that iron
bond which unites parents and children was snapped ; infants
died of starvation pressed against their mothers’ shrivelled
breasts ; weary old greybeards grew faint and stumbled on
the way and died without the last consolation of old age,
without seeing around them their offspring whose souls were
bound up with their own ; tender infants were deserted
without anyone to take pity on them, and the clamour went
forth from one end of the earth to the other, ” Where is my
father ? ” ” Where is my child ? ”
This tragedy was not included among the necessary
tragedies of the war : it was a Jewish tragedy. When Belgium
was ruined, her Jews too were ruined. Had the catastrophe
to the Jews in Poland and Lithuania been of such a kind it
would have found a place in the general history and not in
the separate history of the Jews. When, however, bands of
thousands of Jewish fugitives came to Warsaw from the
inland towns, in rags and tatters, footsore, hungry and
despairing, it was impossible to regard them simply as
victims of the war, because it was only the Jews who came.
They were not victims of the war, they were victims of the
Galuth, these thousands and tens of thousands of Jews who
were suddenly transplanted from the midst of their old homes
in Lithuania. When whole congregations, including inmates
of their Homes for the Aged, of their hospitals, and even of the
asylums were evacuated, it was impossible to believe that this
was mihtary tactics or a measure of precaution, for it was
only the Jewish congregations who were forcibly and sud-
denly removed in this extraordinarily cruel manner. In
many places it happened that the expelled Jews before they
left were able to see with their own eyes other people enter-
ing and taking possession of the shops which they had left
behind them. There was no connection between these suffer-
ings and the events of the universal war. These were inci-
dents in the special campaign which had been waged against
the Jews before the war. For centuries the Jews had been
Hving in these places. Brest-Litovsk and Grodno were not
only cities in which there were fortresses for the Czar’s army
and his Tchinovniks. They were also centres of Jewish Hfe,
wherein the Tor ah dwelt, cities of the Jewish ” Council of the
Four Provinces,” cities which emanated intellectual light
over all the Diaspora, cities with institutions of Jewish
congregations, with Yeshihoth, with schools, with syna-
36 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
gogues and houses of learning, with old cemeteries, whose
tombstones recorded the happenings to Jews for many
generations. All that was destroyed and all the Jews who
lived and thrived in them have been uprooted and scattered,
and that which they left behind them wiped out, and no one
knows if these towns will ever be rebuilt, and even if they
are rebuilt will the Jews and their communities, with their
learning and their traditions, ever be restored ?
Accordingly there was but one cry, one intense and bitter
cry, which was heard from one end of the world of Jews to
the other, a cry for help. ” Save all who can yet be saved.”
The Jewish people had realized that it was unwise to
depend upon governments or to rely on philanthropic effort
in general. The needs of the Jews were great and peculiar,
so that only Jews themselves could help their brethren.
This help appeared to be necessary in two directions : im-
mediate pressing help and permanent prevention. Im-
mediate pressing assistance consisted in sending money,
provisions and clothes to save Jewish Hves from hunger,
disease and want, to help them to find work and means of
UveHhood in the places to which they have been driven, as
well as in the places in which they have remained. But at
the same time, people began to realize more and more that
the real help for the Jews would be to rescue them from the
unnatural conditions which cause them to be the scapegoat
for whatever punishment comes upon the world. A people
which dwells in its own land is also wont to be smitten by
the sword and the fortunes of war, but it is not accustomed
to complete destruction. When a nation has its own land
and its own soil beneath its feet, to which it is attached, all
the winds of Heaven cannot move it from its place, no
weapon can permanently destroy it. A whole nation cannot
be driven by oppressors from its country, and even though
for generations the hand of the oppressor He heavy upon it,
the day is sure to come in which its fetters fall away, and
once again it can breathe freely. Not so with a nation which
floats in the air : it cannot rise in time of trouble, for every
passing wind carries it away like chaff and makes it turn
like the wheel of a windmill. Every page of Jewish history
teaches this lesson, and the present war has served but to
emphasize it. Therefore if we wish to prevent this evil and
to obviate such convulsions in the future, we must estabUsh
for the remnant of this people a firm foundation and a safe
shelter in the land of their fathers. Thus once again the
RELIEF WORK 37
flame of war and the terrible sufferings of our brethren have
revealed the truth of the Zionist idea in all its strength and
clarity as being the only true solution of the Jewish problem,
that problem whose consequences are written in the blood
of myriads of our brethren.
History will relate that the present generation of Jews
rose to the height of its responsibility in comprehending
both these duties equally. Once again there was revealed
the strength of the Jewish quahty of mercy. The Jews of
Russia and Poland did their duty. With their young ones
and their elders they threw themselves into the work of
relief : in many places it was the Zionists who were the most
ardent in this work. The Zionist Organization had during
the last generation become a school of discipline and com-
munal work, from which came forth initiators and leaders.
It is not our wish, however, to make in this respect any
distinction between Zionists and non-Zionists. Many who
stood far removed from the camp returned to their brethren :
all sections of Jews united : the icy cloak of indifferentism
was melted, the divisions between the observant and the
Liberals were obliterated. The shadow of sectarian faction
disappeared, and on the scene appeared one people. History
will relate that American Jewry, that vigorous young branch
of the Jewish tree, made a mighty superhuman effort and
performed wonders surpassing the imagination. It was not
charity, but greatness. Voluntary effort went as far as self-
imposed taxation. The history of Jewish unity has never
had a chapter more beautiful, more sublime, more uplifting.
America was not alone — a similar spirit rested upon the
Jews of every country, and not only with regard to relief
work, but also in the more permanent work of prevention,
which was Jewry’s second duty. The second duty was to
watch over and safeguard the Jewish colonies in Palestine,
the colonies from which will spring the National Home. It
was necessary to provide the Palestinian Jews with food,
and to support the colonization — this small heritage of ours,
this child of our sorrow, conceived in anguish and in holiness.
The difficulties were enormous. Palestine was cut off from
the whole world, by the sea on the West and the desert on
the East, without a government able or wiUing to help ;
the New colonization is a young plant needing tender care —
the Old communities are poor and helpless. If in such cir-
cumstances Palestinian Jewry was not entirely wiped out,
we must thank the Jewish nationahst heart, which was
38 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
awakened in our brethren in every country, and especially
in America.
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
The downfall of the Czardom in Russia was undoubtedly
one of the greatest events in the world’s history. Russia
entered into a period of revolution which seemed to bring
with it all the blessings of right and liberty. The restrictions
affecting nationalities and creeds were removed. But far
from destroying Zionism, the new liberty gave it an immense
stimulus.
In Moscow a Zionist District Committee was formed,
comprising many Provinces : Astrakhan, Vladimir, Vologda,
Voronesh, Kazan, Kaluga, Kostrooma, Kursk, Moscow,
Nijni-Novgorod, Simbirsk, Smolensk, Tambov, Tula, Ufa,
Jaroslav, and the Don District.
At Odessa, a Zionist demonstration took place. Entire
battalions of Zionist soldiers bore through the town blue
and white banners, with the motto : —
” Liberty in Russia, Land and Liberty in Palestine.”
A hundred and fifty thousand men followed these banners,
to which the Military Governor of Odessa insisted on showing
honour publicly.
Zionist meetings were also held at Minsk, Saratov, Juriev,
Kharkov, Nijni-Novgorod, Ekaterinburg, Homel, Pros-
kurov, Baku Dubrovno, Riazan, Ekaterinoslav, Moscow,
etc.
At Kieff, when the procession approached the Town
Hall, the Zionist flag was hoisted on the balcony,
where the ” Hatikvah ” was played by the municipal
orchestra.
At Berdicheff fifteen thousand Jews marched through the
principal streets carrying Zionist banners. The Municipahty,
the Administration Executive of the town, and the chiefs
of Ukraine National Organizations, greeted the Zionist
demonstrators.
In Turkestan and Bokhara the Zionist movement made
remarkable progress. The entire Sephardi element has
adhered to the movement. The Ashkenazim and Sephardim
worked together peacefully at the great Zionist Conference
held at Samarcand. A meeting of five thousand Jews was
held there, and a resolution adopted in favour of a Jewish
Palestine.
In Moscow, in the Great Hall, a Jewish Mass Meeting
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 39
took place. Dr. E. W. Tschlenow was elected president.
The following resolution was adopted : —
” The Jewish Mass Meeting in Moscow salutes freedom
with great joy. We are firmly convinced that the Con-
stituent Assembly, which is to be elected by universal
suffrage, will establish in Russia a thoroughly democratic
administration, and that not only civil rights, but also
national rights, national autonomy, and a free national
evolution, will be secured to the Jewish as well as to all
other peoples of Russia. The Meeting resolves to convoke
a general Jewish Congress in Russia.”
The Conference at Petrograd on May 24th, 1917, received
official recognition. The Minister for Foreign Affairs,
M. Teretschenko, wished the Conference success in its
deliberations.
Dr. Tschlenow delivered an Address, in the course of
which he said, among other things : —
** We beg the Provisional Government to believe that it
may fully depend upon our forces and our support in its
heroic efforts directed toward the strengthening of the
freedom and greatness of Russia.
*• What is necessary, and what we strive for, is to create
a national territorial centre for our scattered people. The
construction of that centre is already begun, and it will
continue. The centre will gradually be filled by the forces
and means of the Diaspora.
“Who of you has not keenly followed for the last year
and a half the life of the youngest branch of the Jewish
people : the American ? Hundreds of thousands of working
men are unified in their demand for national rights in the
Diaspora and an autonomous centre in Palestine. The
New York Kehillah, representing a million and a quarter
Jews, comes forward with the same slogan. Finally, the
powerful Congress movement, embracing the entire three
million Jewry, is to close the coming autumn with most
important decisions. Weigh all the facts, and you will
agree that the harmony of which we dream is already
coming to pass. With hope and with love we follow the
work of our Trans-oceanic champions, and send to them our
brotherly greetings.
” But what could not have been prophesied and what fills
our hearts with untold joy and pride, is the attitude towards
our ideal on the part of the broad stratas of Jewry, which
has revealed itself since the time of the Great Revolution.
40 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
“From all corners of our great Russia come to us, to-
gether with cheers of joy over the emancipation, assurances
of unshattered faith in the eternal ideal — the renaissance of
our native Palestine. Old and young, rich and poor, from
the front and from the rear, orthodox and free-thinkers,
declare in one voice : * Now, even now, freed from the
chains of slavery, shall we be able zealously and gladly to
give ourselves to the service of our ideals ? ‘
” I cannot refrain here from underscoring, with the feeling
of deepest recognition, the invaluable services which the
Government of the United States has so nobly and warmly
shown to our pioneers. The noble President of the United
States has acted from motives of humanity and brotherly
relation of peoples, but at the same time, also, from deep
sympathy in our regeneration. The noble impulses of America
have found a worthy instrument in the person of the former
Ambassador Morgenthau, that faithful son of the Jewish
people, whose services in these hard years Jewry will not forget.
” But all this time, while working and building, we have
not lost sight of the basic point inscribed upon our banner —
the public, legal character of the hearth which we are creat-
ing. We are convinced that the moment has come for
reiterating our programme.
” We deem it necessary that the nations called upon to
establish the standard of the future national political life
should reckon with the definitely expressed will of the Jewish
people, to populate and regenerate Palestine as its national
hearth. We deem it further necessary that all obstacles
should be removed from our path, and that guarantees and
conditions should be created which will ensure the un-
obstructed and speedy development of our work in the land.”
The Conference was attended by five hundred and fifty-
two delegates from six hundred and forty towns. There
were delegates from Turkestan, Bokhara, and the Crimea.
In addition, there were present five hundred visitors from
provincial towns and over one thousand one hundred visitors
from Petrograd.
A unique historic document was placed before the Con-
vention when the Chairman read the full text of the Military
Order of the Day, issued and signed by General Alexeieff,
Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front, permitting the
Jewish soldiers to elect from their number delegates to the
Convention, and furnishing passes and transportation to the
delegates to facilitate their presence at the gathering.
THE PETROGRAD CONVENTION 41
The spokesman of the soldier-delegates read the following
resolution, which had been adopted by his colleagues : —
” We — Jewish soldier-delegates from the Army — who
participate in this Convention, avow to the Convention,
and to the Jewish people :
” Hundreds and thousands of Jews are in battle in the
Russian Army. In a time of outlawry and terrible perse-
cution, under the burden of false accusations, the Jewish
soldiers fulfilled their full military duty. In the ocean of
blood poured out by the heroic Russian Army, there is no
little of Jewish blood.
” Now, having become free citizens of Russia, and
fully privileged members of the Army, the Jewish soldiers
will continue their efforts in a new spirit of enthusiasm.
Believing that the strengthening of the revolution, and
the strengthening of the peoples in Russia can be accom-
plished only through the union of all the peoples and by
a strong discipline in the free army, the Jewish soldiers
declare triumphantly that they are prepared to follow the
call of the revolutionary democracy to defend Russia
against her enemies.
*’ We beheve that the Russian democracy, which has
assumed the task of freeing all the peoples of the world,
will understand the strivings of our people, and will
support Jewry in its efforts to create a national centre for
the Jewish people, on its historic soil, Palestine.”
The Conference carried the following resolutions : —
Considering first that the Jewish people, in view of
its disposition and dispersion all over the world, can re-
create for itself conditions for the normal development of
its national, cultural, and economic life, only through the
restoration of a national autonomous centre in its historic
home, Palestine,
” Secondly, that the Jewish nation has never severed
its ties with its ancient home, and has always longed for
it, and that its moral and historic right to Palestine is in-
contestable and irremovable,
” Thirdly, that the aspirations of the Jewish nation,
so manifested, fully coincide with the great principle of
self-definition, of freedom and independence for the
development of all nations proclaimed by the democracies
and governments of all countries :
4^ THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
“The Zionist Conference in Russia unanimously ex-
presses its firm belief that when estabHshing the basis of
the future national and political life, the nations will
recognize and count with the clearly-stated will of the
Jewish nation for the resettlement and rebirth of Palestine
as its national centre, and will consequently create condi-
tions guaranteeing the free and successful development
of the concentrated Jewish forces and of the restoration
of Palestine.
” To ensure the concrete and full manifestation of the
will of the Jewish nation, the Conference considers it
necessary first to organize among the Jews a referendum
on the question ; secondly, to lay before the All- Russian
Jewish Congress the question of Jewish claims in Palestine ;
and thirdly, to claim the admission of a representative of
the Jewish nation at the future peace conference, to be
held upon the closing of hostilities, for the expression of
the wishes of the Jewish nation, and for the defence of its
historic and national rights and interests.”
The same spirit was revealed also by the Jews of Poland.
In May, 1917, a Zionist Conference was held in Warsaw,
attended by nearly four hundred delegates representing a
large number of committees, synagogues, societies and
groups consisting of all classes of the Jewish population.
A sort of plebiscite was arranged among the Jews of Poland,
with a view to ascertaining their attitude towards Zionism.
The plebiscite resulted in the acceptance of a resolution in
favour of Zionism.
All these and many other facts prove that the Zionist
idea has made great progress among the Jewish masses.
But under the new circumstances Zionism required more
than the usual propaganda : it required work, pohtical work.
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES IN ENGLAND AND THE ALLIED
COUNTRIES
The introduction into this book of a comprehensive
account of the various demarches on behalf of the Zionist
cause recently undertaken in English political circles, and
also in allied countries, is rendered difficult by the following
considerations. In the first place, the publication of pour-
parlers which have taken place, and of schemes which have
been, or are to be, submitted, is impossible, because they are
still in progress, and their final issue is dependent on further
THE POLITICAL WORK 43
developments. In the second place, the author feels great
embarrassment, being compelled to break the rule hitherto
observed of avoiding any reference to his own share in the
work of the movement. In this section, however, he has
participated so directly in the demarches referred to that it
was quite impossible to speak of them at all without refer-
ring occasionally to his share in the political activities.
A glance, however, at recent political efforts appeared in-
dispensable, in order to bring the history of Zionism up to
date. But there is no claim that the following account is
more than an outline of the most important events. With
these provisos we pass to the facts themselves.
It was at once clear that England was destined to play a
most important part in Zionist pohtics. London from the
beginning was the financial centre of the Zionist Organiza-
tion and the Mecca of poUtical Zionism. Even at the time
of the Choveve Zion Movement England was regarded, as
it were, as the country that stands between the ” Galuth ”
and ‘ ‘ Salvation. ‘ ‘ When the idea of Palestine had begun to be
popularized among the Jews of Russia and Poland — long
before the name ” Zionism ” had become current — Disraeli’s
Tancred and George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda were translated
into Hebrew. The name of Sir Moses Montefiore was in the
mouth of all Jews in Eastern Europe, and his journeys to
Palestine, in connection with his great plans, had long since
grown legendary. English Jews were valued because of
this famous individual ; they were considered simply as
national Jews, whether they really were so or not. From
a distance the observer did not recognize the mediocrity, the
parochialism and dissensions ; he saw the summits only,
and they appeared splendid. A man Uke Albert Goldsmid,
who was an English colonel and also a national Jew,
appeared to be a type such as could hardly be found in any
other country. That was rich material for the Jewish
imagination, which fed upon it and made it much greater
than the truth. It was, however, not imagination, pure and
simple ; a sound political instinct was also at work here.
The Jewish Ghetto had for long prophesied that it is Eng-
land’s destiny to decide the fate of Palestine, and however
much one may smile at the speculations of Ghetto poUticians,
these had, nevertheless, in their quick-wittedness understood
much that is sometimes hidden from professional politicians.
Moreover, this was not the politics of the Ghetto only. Herzl
did not know the Ghetto, and received no information from
44
THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
it ; notwithstanding this, all roads led him to London. It
was in London that he for the first time in his Hfe publicly
took part in Jewish Hfe. At a later period again, the offer of
Uganda was made by the EngHsh Government ; the El-
Arish Expedition was organized by England. Zionist
finance was EngUsh, and EngHsh was the Zionist pohtical
outlook.
In the pre-war period the Zionist Organization had every-
where sought connections. True to its programme, desiring
a charter from the Ottoman Government, with the approval
of the great Powers, it worked without intrigue and adventure,
honestly anxious to get this charter with the approval of all
nations. In this matter, England always took the first place.
Herzl and his followers had worked zealously in England. This
work was continued after Herzl’s death. The author also,
in his capacity as member of the Zionist Executive, visited
this country several times. The impressions gained here
were always stimulating and interesting, but the Zionist
question was not prominent.
The question became prominent with the outbreak of the
war. The thought lay uppermost, that the work must be
carried on here in England, that, if possible, it must be con-
centrated here. If this thought was evident to the Zion-
ists of other countries, was it any wonder that it deeply
stirred the EngHsh Zionists ? Thus it happened that this
thought found an excellent champion and representative in
the person of Dr. Chaim Weizmann. He took counsel with
his colleagues in England, and together with them began to
consider the question of what was to be done in England,
in order to make the political problem of Zionism a problem
of the day. The idea that England was the most important
centre, and offered the most promising prospect of success,
was neither new nor the opinion of a single party ; it had
become rather the property of the whole Zionist Organiza-
tion. But it was now something entirely different from what
it used to be formerly. Formerly Zionism was an abstract
idea ; in spite of all Herzl’s great achievements, the problem
remained merely a project. It is the poHtical problem we
are talking about, because the inteUectual and practical
labour of Zionists for Palestine had been a reaHty during the
whole time of the Choveve Zion and the Zionist movements.
Now, however, political Zionism has also become a reality.
If the war has taught us anything at all it surely is this,
that nothing is more fatal than an attitude of indifference
THE WORK IN ENGLAND 45
towards problems of international politics. The practical
and intellectual members of the Zionist Organization, too,
who used to look down upon politics, have chajiged their
attitude towards them. Formerly, they may have been
entirely or partially right — the intellectual were undoubtedly
right in proclaiming that the spiritual in Zionism must be
the soul of the whole movement, and the practical ones also
were right in establishing the early colonies, and it is only
a pity that more considerable progress was not made — but
now all were agreed that, in consideration of the new possi-
bilities, the movement must come into relation with the
political forces, and the establishment of actual relations
constituted a great many-sided and responsible work, which
had to be carried out, at first in England, but also partly in
other countries of the Entente.
One of the most distinguished representatives of the
Zionist idea in this country is the Very Rev. Dr. Moses
Gaster, the late Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’
congregations in England, who from early youth occupied
a respected and influential position, in the time of Choveve
Zion as well as in Zionism, and devoted himself also with
great zeal to the poHtical question of Zionism. He also
represented the view that a wide field for political efforts
lay open here, and he freely gave his time and his eloquence
in the service of the cause. In this direction he was
very active, especially in the earlier stages.
The Very Rev. Dr. Joseph Herman Hertz, Chief Rabhi of
the United Congregations of the British Empire, has evinced
a sympathy with the Zionist Movement which at certain
pregnant moments was equivalent to declaring himself at
one with Zionism. His affiliation with the Zionist idea goes
back to Choveve-Zion days, and subsequently he became one
of the founders of the ** South African Zionist Federation.”
The Spiritual Leader of British Jewry has ever been
a sincere friend of the movement, and on various decisive
occasions has championed the idea, defending it, explaining
it, and encouraging it. In the new development, especially
in the months preceding the ” Declaration,” his help in con-
nection therewith has been of far-reaching and lasting
importance.
The inspiring spirit and the driving force, he who most
successfully had made many distinguished non- Jewish
personahties famihar with Zionism and who championed
with all his energy and enthusiasm a Zionist political pro-
46 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
gramme in England, was Dr. Chaim Weizmann. In the very
earliest months of the war he began to collect the threads
for the poHtical work, to rouse the Zionist circles with
which he was in touch, to revive old connections in non-
Jewish circles and to form new ones, to prepare for negotia-
tions — in a word, to open up the work that was destined
later on to become a properly-organized programme. Herein
he had the support of a group of enthusiastic and deeply
S5mipathetic Zionists, and was strengthened and stimulated
in his initiative by them. The first attempts to confer with
the Government representatives about Zionism were made :
the impressions were satisfactory. One foresaw that this
contained the germs of promising possibiHties. These im-
pressions led to the conclusion that mere discussions alone
were not sufficient, but rather that it was necessary to
formulate plans. In order to formulate plans and in order
to obtain authority from the Zionist Organization to submit
these plans (for such appeared to be the next step) it would
be necessary to establish a centre in London, and to obtain
the necessary representative powers. It would also be
necessary to write more about Zionism : to publish books,
to undertake propagandist work — in another and more direct
manner. The means were also considered to win over
the non-Zionist, perhaps even the anti-Zionist, Jewish
elements. All these aims were discussed, weighed, and
elaborated by a small circle. It was not the whole of
English Jewry, it was not even the then existing English
Zionist Federation ; it was really a circle of a few Zionists,
mostly intellectuals who corresponded with Dr. Weizmann,
and met and took counsel with him.
From that time forward the Zionist idea began to occupy
the attention of the English Press. The question became
topical, the old EngHsh traditions found new expression.
Most people had no conception that they were speaking in
the spirit of old traditions — for few knew of this remote
chapter in Engish history — but they did it unconsciously,
which makes their action perhaps even more valuable.
Many a journalist among the elite of the intellectuals not
only gave assistance to the cause of Zionism in the Press,
but went a step further, and helped vigorously in the political
work. In connection with this matter the name of the
doyen of English journalism, Mr. C. P. Scott, Editor of the
Manchester Guardian, may be especially mentioned. Since
the very beginning Mr. C. P. Scott has given the whole
THE WORK IN ENGLAND 47
problem a very careful and sympathetic attention, and was
an influential mediator between Zionists and leaders of
British politics. He and Dr. Weizmann had conversations
with some personalities, who strengthened them in their
hopes that the ground was favourable for Zionism. Other
Zionist workers in England also shared their view, and
Dr. Gaster, too, in conjunction with Dr. Weizmann, had
some important conversations with English leaders. The
impressions which both had formed confirmed the hope
that Zionism has a great future in England.
We can by this time, without committing any indiscretion,
take this opportunity of mentioning one of the influential
personahties who had given great and never-to-be forgotten
services in the cause of the Zionist idea, that is the Rt. Hon.
Herbert Samuel, late Home Secretary, who unites in him-
self the brilUant qualities of an EngHsh statesman with an
enthusiastic attachment to Judaism, but had never yet taken
an active part in essentially Jewish affairs. His wonder-
ful energy, his distinguished talents and his patriotic zeal
had for long been devoted to the services of the country,
and both in the Asquith ministry and in Parliament he formed
one of the most distinctive figures. Although he directed
his activities exclusively to questions of Home administra-
tion, he turned his mind also from the commencement of
the war to the great poHtical problems of foreign politics,
and when the opportunity was offered to become more
acquainted with the Zionist idea, this idea won his sympathy,
and he championed it with the full force of his convictions.
It is sufficient to mention the words contained in his speech
at the Demonstration of December 2nd at the London Opera
House : ” that he has stood for Zionism not only in the
Cabinet, but also outside it.” These were modest words.
As a matter of fact, he has not only stood for Zionism, but
he has also done much to elucidate Zionist questions. He
merits truly a page of honour in the history of Zionism.
For the sake of historical accuracy, other distinguished
persons must be mentioned as well. We refer to some
members of the famous House of Rothschild. Volumes
could be written concerning what Baron Edmond de Roths-
child has done for colonization in Palestine. Far removed
from political activity and unwilling to play any official part
in the Zionist Organization, devoted with love and attach-
ment to his country, France, and at the same time inspired
with the loftiest sentiments for Judaism, this Nestor of true
48 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
philanthropy cherishes a love for the idea of regenerating
Palestine that cannot be too highly valued. That he has made
this ideal one of the most beautiful traditions of his family
is shown by the fact that his son, James, has followed
the example of his father. This stimulating and instruc-
tive example could not fail to influence the other branches
of this great family also. The late Lord Rothschild of
London, who stood at the head of organized EngUsh Jewry,
was long regarded as an opponent of Zionism. But this
opposition was not a matter of principle, it was simply
determined by circumstances : the obstacles appeared to
him insurmountable, and that was the only reason for his
opposition. In view of the different circumstances caused
by the war, he revised his former opinions, and shortly before
his death he began to take an interest in Zionism. Following
this lead, other members of this family also have taken up a
favourable view towards Zionism, and this view grew to a
complete aUiance with the Zionist Organization on the part
of the present Lord Rothschild.
In connection with this development, the very great
services of Dr. Weizmann in this same direction must be
mentioned. Shortly before the outbreak of war Dr. Weiz-
mann had given much attention to the project of founding a
University in Jerusalem. This project, which met with great
approval, not only in Zionist circles but also elsewhere,
brought him into closer relations with the House of Roths-
child, and this did much to make the members of this family
more closely acquainted with Zionism.
This was the position at the beginning of the war. The
outlook was promising, and a sound start had been made.
But all this was waiting for development, for deepening, for
actualization. The English Zionist Federation, being a
local organization, could neither speak in the name of the
great masses of Zionists of the Entente countries nor could
it undertake the great political labour of propaganda organ-
ization. Thus it happened that on the part of Dr. Weizmann,
Dr. Gaster, and others, the invitation was sent forth to the
main organization to delegate two of its representatives to
London.
There was, however, still another matter which caused
the coming of the delegates of the general Zionist Organiza-
tion in London to appear necessary. Although the Organ-
ization remained uniform in its principles and aims, an actual
collaboration of Zionists throughout the world in the pre-
THE WORK IN ENGLAND 49
existing form had to be set aside for the time being. The
greatest numbers of Zionists Hve in Russia : there exist the
persons who are especially called to make Palestine their
home, and there also the majority of the most distinguished
Jewish nationaUsts and the leading spirits of a Hebrew
culture are most strongly represented. The great Jewish
community in America, which unites the intensity of
national consciousness of Russian Jews with the fresh spirit
of liberty of the New World, constitutes even more and more
a reservoir, not only of powerful material resources, but also
of great organizing motive-power, of influential initiative
and endeavour, which are doubtless destined to play a
decisive part in the solution of the Zionist problem. When,
in addition to these facts, it is realized that the great re-
sources for the colonization of Palestine have been contri-
buted from Paris, by Baron Edmond de Rothschild, where
also the headquarters of the Jewish Colonization Association
are situated, which has the disposal of the millions of the
late Baron de Hirsch, and which, if the issues in Palestine are
favourable, is destined to develop its colonizing activities
in this direction : when finally the fact is remembered that
London is the centre of all financial institutions, then it will
be easily understood that the whole situation has brought
England to a place of first importance in the matter of
Zionist activities, that it seemed a logical necessity that
certain representatives of the Organization had to move
their residence and their work hither, so as not only to
maintain what already existed, but also to prepare system-
atically the conditions for the new and rich possibilities,
together with the distinguished personal factors already at
work here.
In conclusion, one more circumstance must be mentioned,
the importance of which is also not to be under-rated.
Though for a long time the Zionist Organization had en-
deavoured to make Zionism the cause of the entire Jewish
people, the consciousness of the need for unity grew as the
war progressed. It was very desirable that those Jews
who did not consider themselves organized Zionists, should
co-operate in the realization of many practical plans. All
the peoples involved in the war had managed to create
among their parties a so-called ” Union Sacree,” and
to form a united front. Why should this be impossible to
the Jews ?
Soon after the outbreak of the war, the Zionist leaders
I
50 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
in England had attempted to come to an understanding with
those indifferent to their cause and with the so-called anti-
Zionists, in order to render possible, without renouncing the
principles of Zionism, collaboration in working out a practical
scheme in Palestine.
All these motives led the leaders of English Zionism
to request the general organization to delegate here two of
their representatives — namely, Dr. Tschlenow of Moscow
and the author, for the purpose of assisting in the important
work to be done in this country. They arrived in London
shortly before the end of the year 1914.
Space does not allow us to describe the work of these
three years in detail ; we must therefore confine our atten-
tion to the chief features. In the course of the first few
months the work consisted in a searching test of the attempts
in hand : this test yielded a perfect agreement and a verifi-
cation of all reports made. In the early months of 1915
there were new conferences with many leading personalities,
with favourable results. In March, 1915, Dr. Tschlenow,
Dr. Weizmann, and the author went to Paris, after Dr.
Weizmann had previously visited Paris again and again on
Zionist business. Attention was then confined to Jewish
circles, and so far as non- Jewish circles were concerned a
certain general enquiry appeared to be necessary. At
the same time, attempts were made through conferences
with a group of leading Jewish personalities in London who
stood aloof from Zionism, to bring about an understanding.
The Zionist delegation which was in charge of these nego-
tiations and this correspondence was composed of Dr.
E. W. Tschlenow, Dr. Moses Gaster, Mr. Joseph Cowen, Mr.
Herbert Bentwich, and the author. As an understanding
just then appeared impossible, the negotiations were post-
poned until further notice. Dr. Tschlenow shortly after-
wards left England, after a stay of five to six months, and
returned to Russia. At the meeting of the Zionist Com-
mittee in Copenhagen and at the Zionist meetings that took
place in Russia, Dr. Tschlenow was able to report that the
poUtical efforts in England had filled him with the best
hopes. The Author remained in England and devoted him-
self, in addition to propaganda, to the political task in which
Weizmann’s unwearied efforts became more and more im-
portant. The period 1915-1916 was more one of prepara-
tion than one of execution : Zionism had to be strengthened
from within, the societies in London and the Provinces had
THE WORK IN ENGLAND 51
to be maintained, new societies had to be created, pamphlets
and books had to be written and pubHshed ; externally,
the work consisted in finding new sympathisers, and in an
enhghtening propaganda wherever a proper opportunity
offered itself. The correspondence with the Zionist leaders
and organizations in Russia and America became more
active and the relations ever closer. In London a number of
talented young Zionist writers and workers had grouped
themselves round the leaders ; many books and many
pamphlets which were pubhshed during this period had won
great popularity for the Zionist writers and publicists who
had already proved their worthiness, such as Major
Norman Bentwich, who subsequently became the first
Procureur-General of Palestine under the British occupa-
tion, and Messrs. Paul Goodman, Albert M. Hyamson,
Samuel Landman, Harry Sacher, Leon Simon ; new
personalities joined them, as, for instance, Semmi Tol-
kowsky and others. The temporary stay in London of
many prominent Zionists of Russia and Palestine, such as
Boris Goldberg of Wilna, and recently the agriculturist,
Jacob Ettinger, and the manager of the Anglo-Palestine
Company, David Levontin, who both came over from
Palestine, and the great intellectual influence exercised by
Achad Haam, who freely gave his invaluable advice in
every important question — all these have done very much
to make London the real centre of Zionist work.
Towards the end of the year 19 16 several months were
spent in drafting outlines and projects for the purpose of
drawing up a Zionist programme which should be as clear as
possible and correspond with the present conditions, in
which efforts Dr. Weizmann and the author were supported
by a number of notable colleagues. Already in 1915 the
work had commenced on the projects and memoranda, the
drafting of which received many contributions from several
members ; and the work was continued from that time
onwards. A committee, consisting of Dr. Gaster, Dr. Weiz-
mann, Mr. Herbert Bentwich, Mr. Joseph Cowen, and the
author, had towards the end of 1916 outUned a preliminary
sketch of a programme which was afterwards discussed in a
further committee. This programme was intended to serve
as a foundation for the official representations which were
then in view. At the same time. Dr. Weizmann was con-
stantly occupied independently in preparing the ground for
the coming official proposals, by conferences and propaganda ;
52 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
this he was able to do, thanks mostly to his personal con-
nections, though he always acted in conjunction with the
author.
The 7th of February, 1917, constitutes a turning-point in
the history. Shortly before this date Lieut. -Colonel Sir Mark
Sykes, Bart., M.P., had communicated with Dr. Weizmann
and the author on the question of the treatment of the
Zionist problem. Sir Mark Sykes, who is a distinguished
authority on oriental matters and who had earlier given
attention to the Arab question, was entrusted with the study
of the Zionist problem. In conjunction with a representa-
tive of the French Government, M. Georges Picot, he had
devoted great attention to the question, and both had had
first conversations with Dr. Moses Gaster. At the commence-
ment of the year 1917 Sir Mark Sykes entered into closer
relations with Dr. Weizmann and the author, and the discus-
sions held with the latter led to the meeting of February 7th,
1917, which marks the commencement of official negotia-
tions. Besides Sir Mark Sykes, the following took part in
this meeting : Lord Rothschild, Mr. Herbert Bentwich,
Mr. Joseph Cowen, Dr. M. Gaster (at whose house the
meeting took place), Mr. James de Rothschild, Mr. Harry
Sacher, Right Hon. Herbert Samuel, m.p.. Dr. Chaim Weiz-
mann, and the author. The deliberations yielded a favour-
able result, and it was resolved to continue the work.
For further regular consultations with Sir Mark Sykes
and M. Georges Picot, the author was chosen. Discussions
on questions connected with the Zionist programme
took place. In consequence of these negotiations and
of the great importance of the Zionist question to all the
Governments of the Entente Powers, the author was called
to Paris in March, 1917, by the French Government. On
the 22nd of March he was received at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in Paris, where he outUned the principles of the
Zionist programme. He received the assurance that the
French Government regarded the programme very favour-
ably, and was authorized to inform the Zionist Organiza-
tions of Russia and America of this result by telegraph.
After a stay of one month in Paris, during which the
author got into touch with the leading Jewish circles, he
went to Rome, where he devoted himself to the same task.
The conferences which he had with the leading Italian Jews
led to the happy result that the programme laid before
them by the author was accepted. With regard to the
THE WORK IN FRANCE AND ITALY 53
question of the Holy Places, it was considered advisable to
enter into negotiations with the Vatican. The Author had
conferences with the Cardinals (especially with Cardinal
Gasparri), and on the loth of May he was received in
an audience by the Pope. These conferences led to
a most satisfactory attitude on the part of the Vatican to-
wards Zionism. Between the 12th and the i8th of May, the
author, together with the President of the Jewish Com-
munity in Rome, Commendatore Sereni, was received
several times at the Italian Consulta, and by the then
Prime Minister Boselli, and he was assured that the ItaUan
Government, in conjunction with the Allied Powers, would
support the Zionist programme. He was authorized, just
as in Paris, to telegraph this result to the Russian and
American Zionist organizations.
Having returned to Paris, the author was received on
May 28th by the then Prime Minister Ribot, and after that
remained another month, during which various negotiations
were conducted. He then received a document addressed
to him, a statement from the French Government, the text
of which, translated from the French original, runs as
follows : —
,’ throughout the worid.
The Jews would at least have a homeland and a nationahty
of their own. The national dream that has sustained them
for a score of centuries and more will have been fulfilled/’
In a leading article in the same issue on ‘* The Victory in
Palestine ” we read : —
” The project for constituting a Zionist State there under
British protection has a great deal to commend it. The
restoration to Judaism of what must always be the ideal focus
of its persistent national and spiritual life would be a noble
addition to the programme for emancipating small nations.”
The Daily Neivs, in a leading article, on October 17th, on
the ” ^^’ar and the Jew^s,” dealt with the claim of Zionists
in all lands to be a nation, and the desire to see the land of
their fathers restored to them. The article concluded : —
” In a w^ord, we are not sure that Zionism would not prove
the solution of the obstinate problem of this wandering race
that has perplexed the world for so many centuries. Wliat-
ever the decision of the AlHes in regard to Palestine, it can
hardly fail to improve the conditions and enlarge the hberty
of hfe in Palestine, and if the Jews in large numbers choose
to take advantage of the fact, the object of Zionism will in
due time be accompHshed, and the Jewish nation will hve
again imder its owti vine and fig-tree. WTien that happens,
the Jewish problem that afflicts the rest of the world will
tend to disappear.”
CO-ORDINATION OF ZIONISTS’ REPORTS
The months August-November, 1917, were an exceedingly
busy time for Zionists in England. They had to defend
themselves against the attacks made against them not only
in manifestoes, but also behind the scenes. They had to
continue the pourparlers and to endeavour to obtain some
acceptance of their principle. Dr. Weizmann and the author
were actively and energetically assisted in their endeavours
not only by a group of representative Zionists of England,
but also by a considerable nmnber of Zionists abroad. They
were helped, above all, by American Zionists. Betw^een
London, New^ York, and \\’ashington there was constant com-
munication, either by telegraph, or by personal visit, and
8o THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
as a result there was perfect unity among the Zionists of both
hemispheres. The strength of conviction, the enthusiasm,
the spirit of sacrifice, the enterprise, and the industry and
energy of American Zionists, displayed by them in the last
few years deserve more than a page of honour in the history
of Zionism ; they deserve a volume to themselves. The
statesmanship, the genius for organization, and the benefi-
cent personal influence of the Honourable Louis D. Brandeis,
Judge of the Supreme Court, has raised, strengthened, and
secured in every direction the position of American Zionism
not only in America, but also has increased its prestige and
dignity abroad. His well-weighed counsel, his great experi-
ence, his calm judgment, which unites deep democratic
principles with the sense of responsibihty of a national
leader, were an important factor in the conduct of Zionist
politics. In this matter he was supported by a number
of zealous, expert and devoted fellow-thinkers. The
older American Zionists, who had maintained for many
years a Zionist Organization with great trouble and ex-
emplary steadfastness, were now, since the outbreak of the
war, considerably strengthened by a number of Zionist
leaders from Europe. At the head of the latter — who, in the
meantime, have become thoroughly Americanised — stood
Dr. Shmaria Levin, a member of the ‘* Inner Action Com-
mittee ” ; who, in addition to his distinguished services as
a publicist and propagandist, in which directions he dis-
played a vigour scarcely ever equalled and certainly excelled
by no one, also freely gave his knowledge and advice in the
discussion of political questions. To this group, enlarged
by the leaders newly arrived from Europe, was added
another most valuable group, of strongly Zionist feeling,
coming from Palestine. After the enforced exile of a
number of distinguished pioneers of colonization and of
nationals Hebrew culture from Palestine, many of them
went to America to dedicate themselves there to the
work of propaganda. Dr. Ben-zion Mossinsohn, Mr.
Israel Belkind and Mr. Menachem Mendel Scheinkin
— to mention only the best known — ^have worked
zealously in America for the popularizing of the Pales-
tine idea. The oratorical skill of Mossinsohn was most
valuable. A number of distinguished workers belonging
to the Poale-Zionist Federation also made their head-
quarters in America, where at the same time the orthodox
Zionists of the Mizrachi Federation had made note-
THE AMERICAN ZIONISTS 8i
worthy progress in the organizing of their forces and in the
winning of new members, especially through the efforts of
Mr. Belkind. The Jewish Press in America, a popular actor
of most widespread dimensions, devoted its main attention
to Zionism. With very few exceptions the organs of different
opinions vied in the pubHcation of Zionist views and in the
promoting of the national Jewish idea, in which matter the
non- Jewish Press from time to time gave energetic assistance.
The publication of Hebrew literature and press-matter, which
previously was too little in evidence in America, was stimu-
lated by the Hebrew authors and journalists recently arrived
from Russia and Palestine, who founded new Hebrew weeklies
(Hatoren, Haibri) and established houses for the publica-
tion of Hebrew books. The pioneer and veteran leader of
the idea of the renaissance of the Hebrew language as the
everyday speech in Palestine, namely, Elieser Ben Jehuda
of Jerusalem, found supporters and friends in America, who
made it possible for him to establish his residence during
the war in New York, and there to continue his life-
work, the compilation of a great Hebrew dictionary. The
rise of the national idea found striking expression in the
agitation for the holding of a Jewish-American Congress,
an idea which was violently opposed by the anti-Zionists,
but was carried by an overwhelming majority. Nationality
and democracy — these were the battle-cries of the supporters
of the Congress, which carried away the Jewish-American
masses with irresistible force.
The separate Zionist federations ” Mizrachi ” (containing
Orthodox Jews) and ” Poale Zion’* (containing Socialists)
have naturally been sorely affected by the war, which greatly
impeded their work. They, too, however, have been able to
keep up the contact between the various sections of their
federations and continue their activities. The ” Mizrachi ”
has been particularly active in America. The central office
of the “Poale Zion” has been transferred to the Hague,
though its main activities have been carried on in America.
In close co-operation with the office of the Federation, the
“Jewish Labour Correspondence Bureau ” has issued bulletins
giving information about Palestine,
The central office
of the “Poale Zion” has been transferred to the Hague,
though its main activities have been carried on in America.
In close co-operation with the office of the Federation, the
“Jewish Labour Correspondence Bureau ” has issued bulletins
giving information about Palestine, and the conditions of
Jews in various countries, with special reference to labour
questions and the needs of the Jewish wage-earner.
This was the milieu in which the political work of the
London Zionist centre found great sympathy and ready
assistance. The circle grew constantly, new elements joined
II.— G
82 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
the older experienced ones : the worthy EHsha Levin-
Epstein, who gave himself entirely to relief work and who
for this purpose undertook the most difficult journeys during
the course of the war, never lost sight of his leading idea,
namely, Zionism. Mr. Nathan Straus, who but a few years
ago took up the Palestine scheme, placed himself in the front
rank of the promoters of Zionism ; Rabbi Stephen S. Wise,
one of the most popular of American orators, who many
years previously had attended the Zionist Congress as
delegate and afterwards left the Movement, returned with
renewed strength to labour in the work of propaganda and
in the development of the organization with those well-tried
fighters, Dr. Harry Friedenwald, Professor Israel Friedlaender,
Miss Henrietta Szold, Professor Richard Gottheil, Mr. Jacob
de Haas, Mr. Louis Lipsky, and many others. It was a great
pleasure to welcome into the Zionist camp a galaxy of new
forces of great influence, such for example as Judge Julian W.
Mack and Professor Felix Frankfurter. In synagogues and
workshops, in the universities and in the clubs of the
Associations for Mutual Assistance — everywhere Jewish
national life began to throb more strongly than ever. The
sphere of Zionism seemed to grow day by day : the great
expansion which the Zionist university movement of young
men, the ” Menorah,” had shown, pointed to a great future
national development.
Every idea born in London was tested by the Zionist
Organization in America, and every suggestion from
America received the most careful attention in London.
Many Zionist representatives came from America to London,
and others visited America. The negotiations in political
circles in England and France were known in America,
every success was welcomed there with enthusiasm, and
often, also, received further support. Every opportunity
was there taken advantage of to hold discussions, not only
with the representatives of the Government and the poHtical
parties, but also with distinguished statesmen who were
staying in America as visitors. The visit of Mr. Balfour,
British Foreign Secretary, gave an opportunity to the pro-
minent Canadian Zionist leader, Mr. Clarence de Sola, for a
most encouraging conversation, in the course of which the
noble intentions of the British Government were expressed.
Similar interviews took place on various other occasions.
The real work, of course, could only be carried on in London ;
but it must be observed that the interest, the goodwill,
Rt. Hon, Arthur J. Balfour, M.P.
Olive Edis, F.R.P.S.
THE BRITISH DF.CLARATION 83
and the helpful efforts on the part of the Zionist organiza-
tions in the United States, Russia, Canada, and other
countries, have been of considerable value. –
In September, 1917, Dr. Tschlenow again came to
London, attracted by the importance of the Zionist affairs
which were in negotiation. After more than two years of
absence, although in uninterrupted contact with London,
the work was too advanced, and his health too poor to allow
him to be so active as he was at the beginning. But he par-
ticipated with his advice and influence, and he Hved to
experience some great moments.
THE BRITISH DECLARATION AND ITS RECEPTION
November 2nd, 1917, marks the end of a chapter in
Zionist history : it is Declaration Day.
The following are the terms of the letter to Lord Roths-
child in which Mr. A. J. Balfour, Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, declared the sympathy of the British
Government with Zionist aspirations and its favourable
attitude towards the establishment in Palestine of a national
home for the Jewish people : —
” Foreign Office,
”November 2, 1917.
” Dear Lord Rothschild, — I have much pleasure in con-
veying to you on behalf of His Majesty’s Government the
following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist
aspirations, which has been submitted to and approved by
the Cabinet :
” ‘ His Majesty’s Government view with favour the estab-
lishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish
people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the
achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that
nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and
religious rights of existing non- Jewish communities in
Palestine or the rights and poUtical status enjoyed by Jews
in any other country.’
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to
the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
” Yours sincerely,
” [Signed) Arthur James Balfour."
It was at once clear that a great moment in the history of
the Jewish people had arrived through this Declaration. Our
84 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
ancient home has agam arisen for civilization. For nineteen
centuries it has been made a desert, for nineteen centuries
the Jewish people deprived of their own land sought every-
where a place where they could have freedom of the spirit
and room for their work, and generation after generation
prayed and dreamt of the return to Zion. Generation after
generation drew from this source strength to live and to
struggle. Now the dreams of our ancestors are becoming
reality. The testament of Herzl was approaching fulfilment.
The British Government has spoken in solemn terms to the
Jews of the world. The time has arrived to create anew a
Jewish homeland on the ashes of the past, to rebuild a
national centre and to proceed to work in freedom in a free
Jewish land.
Mid storm and fire the people and the land seemed to be
born again. The great events of the time of Zerubbabel (fl. 536
b.c.e.) Ezra and Nehemiah repeated themselves. The Third
Temple of Jewish freedom is rising before us. The first stones
were laid long ago by our heroic pioneers in hard struggle
against obstacles without number. They created the first
nests of culture in Palestine. With their blood and work they
have shown the world that the Jewish people has not only
historical claims on the land of its ancestors, but also priority
in actual fact in the work of its rebirth. These leader heroes,
the fathers of political Zionism, bravely proclaimed to the
whole world the right of the nation to a free life in the home-
land, and organized productive work in Palestine.
Great new horizons of free national constructive work are
revealed before our eyes. The fate of the Jewish land
depends not only on the powerful protection of Governments,
but first and foremost on the steadfastness and capacity for
sacrifice of the Jewish people itself. Zerubbabel' s call to the
Jews of the Diaspora was heard once more — to return to the
ancient land, to grasp the ploughshare and the hammer,
and to forge their own destiny.
The Press was without exception most sympathetic.
" Epoch-making is perhaps not too strong a term to apply
to Mr. Balfour's letter to Lord Rothschild. At any time a
formal endorsement of Zionism by a Great Power would
command attention if couched in such terms. But at the
present moment, when Gaza and Beersheba have fallen to
British armies and the distant thunder of our guns is heard
in Jerusalem itself, the declaration has a significance that
cannot be mistaken.
//. irn//,f linrnctt and Co., Ld.
Gen. Sir Edmund H. H. Allenby
PRESS COMMENTS 85
'* From the Jewish point of view such a restoration opens
the door of wonderful possibihties ; the hopes that have
never been lost during eighteen centuries of the dispersion
will return within the region of fact and accompHshment.
Scarcely less important should be the consequences for
Europe. . . . The family of nations would be enriched by the
return of one of its oldest and most gifted members to a
regular and normal place within the circle." {Daily Chronicle,
Nov. 9th.)
" . . . In deciding to give the Zionists their chance, the
British Government have done a bold thing and a wise
thing ; and as an honestly inspired and intelUgent dis-
interestedness is sounder policy than the most crafty selfish-
ness, they have incidentally struck in this dark hour a very
heavy blow for the cause for which the free peoples of the
world are fighting. Considered merely as a gesture, what is
there in the war to compare in effectiveness to this decision ?
. . . The promise of the restoration of Palestine will count
for more in the judgment of the world than all the desolation
wrought by the German legions among the nations whom
they have trodden under foot." [Daily News, Nov. loth.)
** The restoration of Palestine to the Jews will fulfil the
centuries old desire of that ancient people. Moreover, it
will give them a home for the development of an individual
culture, and will not affect other than beneficially the rights
which they have won as citizens of the countries in which
they have made their homes. Moreover, it will provide
refuge for the persecuted, and a centre of Jewish life to
which all the race will naturally turn. Then it will be well
for the Allies' interests in the Mediterranean that so im-
portant a place should become permanently neutrahzed and
stand no risk of f alUng into the hands of the Powers which
might make a mischievous use of it." [Pall Mall Gazette.)
** Mr. Balfour's announcement on the subject cl Zionism,
which forms an extraordinarily appropriate pendant to
General Allenby's brilliant operations in Southern Palestine,
marks the conclusion of a strenuous struggle behind the
scenes between the International Jews, to whom this country
is much more useful than they are to us, and the National
Jews, who are among our most valuable compatriots. For
once the right side has gained the day, and the Zionist
aspirations of the Chosen People receive for the first time
the formal endorsement of a British Government." [The
Globe.)
86 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
" No more appropriate moment could have been seized
by the British Government to declare itself in favour of the
establishment in Palestine of a national home for the
Jewish people than the present time, when our Twentieth
Century Crusaders have just carried Gaza, the ancient
PhiUstine stronghold, and are pressing on to the capture of
the Holy City from the hands of the infidel. British interests
have for long made it plain that some buffer state must
arise between Egypt and a possibly hostile Turkish Govern-
ment, and Zionism appears to provide the solution." (The
Evening Standard.)
" Nearly two thousand years after the Dispersion, Zionism
has become a practical and integral part of aU schemes for
a new world-order after the war. . . . There could not have
been at this juncture a stroke of statesmanship more just
or more wise. No one need to be told that it will send a
mystical thrill through the hearts of the vast majority of
Jews throughout the world. ... It is no idle dream which
anticipates that by the close of another generation the new
Zion may become a State, including, no doubt, only a pro-
nounced minority of the entire Jewish race, yet numbering
from a million to two milhon souls, forming a true national
people, with its own distinctive, rural, and urban civiliza-
tion, its own centres of learning and art, making a unique
link between East and West. Jews who dwell elsewhere
will none the less be animated by a new interest, sympathy,
pride, and will be able to contribute powerful help. So
much for that aspect. We need hardly point out that for
all the higher purposes of the AUies the importance of
Mr. Balfour's declaration is immediate and great. From the
United States to Russia, new enthusiasm for the general
cause of hberty, restoration, and lasting peace secured by
many new international links, moral and practical, will be
kindled amongst the extraordinary race, whose influence
everywhere is out of all proportion to its numbers." (The
Observer.)
" . . .A large and thriving Jewish settlement in the Holy
Land, under the supervision of Great Britain, our Allies,
and America, would make for peace and progress in the
Near East, and would thus accord with British policy. It
is not to be supposed that Palestine could ever support more
than a small proportion of the Jewish race. There are
probably more than twelve milHon Jews in the world, of
whom far more than half live in Russia and Austria. Genera-
PRESS COMMENTS 87
tions may pass before Palestine is capable of maintaining
with comfort a million Jewish inhabitants, though it is, as
Mr. Albert Hyamson says in his very able new book,^ a * land
laid waste ' and not by any means a rallying point for Jews
all over the world, and it would confer a benefit also on
the Christian and the Moslem worlds, which are equally
interested in the Holy Land and its undying religious
memories/' {The Spectator.)
" Mr. Balfour's declaration translates into a binding
statement of policy the general wish of British opinion. It
emphatically favours * the establishment in Palestine of a
national home for the Jewish people.' If we were to analyse
this sentiment we should find at its core the simple and
humane instinct of reparation. Our own record towards
the Jewish race is, from Cromwell's day downwards, one of
relative enlightenment ; but it is on the conscience of all
Christendom that the burden falls of secular persecution
which this enduring race has suffered. One of our soHdest
reasons for welcoming the Russian Revolution was that it
had freed the whole Alliance from complicity in the sins of
one of its chief partners towards the Jews. To end this
record by restoring the dispersed and downtrodden race to
its own cradle is a war aim which lifts the struggle in this
region above the sordid level of Imperial competition." [The
Nation.)
" The British Government's declaration in favour of
Zionism is one of the best pieces of statesmanship that we
can show in these latter days. Early in the war The New
Statesman pubUshed an article giving the main reasons why
such a step should be taken, and nothing has occurred to
change them. The special interest of the British Empire
in Palestine is due to the proximity of the Suez Canal. The
present has killed the idea that this vital artery ought to be
used as a line of defence for Egypt, and there is a general
return to the view of Napoleon (and indeed history long
before his time) that Egypt must be defended in Palestine.
To make Palestine once more prosperous and populous, with
a population attached to the British Empire, there is only
one hopeful way, and that is to effect a Zionist restoration
under British auspices. On the other side of the account it
is hard to conceive how anybody with the true instinct for
nationality and the desire to see small nations emancipated
' "Palestine: The Rebirth of an Ancient People." By Albert M.
Hyamson. London, 191 7.
88 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
can fail to be wanned by the prospect of emancipating this
most ancient of oppressed nationalities." (The New Statesman.)
" The forty-six Jewish colonies, with their co-operative
societies, their agricultural schools, and their experimental
station for agriculture, seem to have prospered before the
war. Their wine and oranges were one-fourth of the total
export trade of Jaffa, and while the war has set back their
development the Turks are likely to have been less destruc-
tive than the Germans in France. Their labour — one of the
chief difficulties foreseen by critics of Zionism — is partly
Arab, but largely supplied by Jews from Russia, Roumania,
and the Yemen. With sufficient capital — aheady furnished
in part by Zionist organizations — the removal of the blight
of Turkish rule, and the coming shortage of all food products,
the economic future of a Jewish Palestine should be bright."
(The Economist.)
" The movement towards Palestine will be slow, and none
of those who have sanctioned the great experiment may
hope to live to judge it by the fruits ; but it is satisfactory
to remember that the British Government's decision meets
with th*" approbation of many Great Powers. President
Wilson views the Zionist programme with the keenest
sympathy, and has appointed a Jewish Commission to study
in Palestine the question of a Jewish State. The Russian
Revolutionary Government has declared its wilHngness to
support the Jewish claim to Palestine, and even permitted
a Zionist Conference to be held in Petrograd. Those who
should be well informed say that the Pope is not opposing
the Zionist ideal, and that the French Government favours
it ; one and all seem to be agreed that when this war is over
the horrors of the Jewish situation as it affects the vast
majority of the race must come to an end. The persecution
and repression practised in Russia and Roumania down to
little more than a year ago cannot go on in a world made fit
for all to Hve in. . . . What will be the spiritual effect of this
return to Palestine upon the pious Jew, who for two thousand
years has said, // / forget thee, Jerusalem, may my right
hand forget its cunning ; upon the other class of Jew who
will recover his Judaism when it has a centre, a point of
focus ; and upon the non- Jew i o whom the return to Pales-
tine is the fulfilment of prophecy and the foreshadowing of
the Millennium ? " (The Graphic.)
*' We speak of Palestine as a country, but it is not a
country. . . . But it will be a country ; it will be the country
PRESS COMMENTS 89
of the jews. That is the meaning of the letter which we
publish to-day written by Mr. Balfour to Lord Rothschild
for communication to the Zionist Federation. It is at once
the fulfilment of an aspiration, the signpost of a destiny.
Never since the days of the Dispersion has the extraordinary
people scattered over the earth in every country of modern
European and of the old Arabic civilization surrendered
the hope of an ultimate return to the historic seat of its
national existence. This has formed part of its ideal life,
and is the ever-recurring note of its religious ritual. . . .
For fifty years the Jews have been slowly and painfully re-
turning to their ancestral home, and even under the Ottoman
yoke and amid the disorder of that effete and crumbling
dominion they have succeeded in establishing the beginnings
of a real civilization. Scattered and few, they have still
brought with them schools and industry and scientific know-
ledge, and here and there have in truth made the waste
places blossom as the rose. . . . The British victories in
Palestine and in the more distant eastern bounds of the
ancient Arab Empire are the presage of the downfall of
Turkish power ; the declaration of policy by the British
Government to-day is the security for a new, perhaps a very
wonderful, future for Zionism and for the Jewish race. . . .
In declaring that ' the British Government view with favour
the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the
Jewish people, and will use its best endeavours to facilitate
the achievement of this object,' the Government have indeed
laid down a policy of great and far-reaching importance,
but it is one which can bear its full fruit only by the united
efforts of Jews all over the world. What it means is that,
assuming our military successes to be continued and the
whole of Palestine to be brought securely under our control,
then on the conclusion of peace our deliberate policy will be
to encourage in every way in our power Jewish immigration,
to give full security, and no doubt a large measure of local
autonomy, to the Jewish immigrants, with a view to the
ultimate establishment of a Jewish State. *' (Manchester
Guardian.)
The Manchester Daily Dispatch published a sympathetic
interview with Sir Stuart Samuel, Bart., on the subject of
the pronouncement of the Government.
Both The Liverpool Courier and The Liverpool Daily Post
and Mercury devoted leading articles to the subject on the
9th of November. The former said : —
90 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
" Mr. Balfour's letter stating the attitude of the British
Government towards the establishment of a National Home
for the Jews in Palestine may well be regarded as one of the
most historic documents in the 5678 years of Jewish history.
Its terms are eminently well considered, and the re-estabhsh-
ment of the Jewish National Home is to be accomplished on
lines which are reasonable and just. Indeed, we note with
satisfaction that the points to which we have already made
reference in our consistent advocacy of the claims of Zionism
(which has been thrust to the fore by world-shaking events
of the past year or two) have been covered by the terms of
the Government declaration. . . . Zionism has made a great
step forward, and the world has now reason to look forward
to the rise of an old-new nation in its natural home, where
some of its ancient greatness may be revived in a national
sense."
The views of The Post took the following form : —
" The important official letter from Mr. Balfour, as
Foreign Secretary, to Lord Rothschild, as representing the
Jews, more than justifies the suggestion we lately made in a
leading article that our Government might be expected to
encourage the Jewish national aspiration for a home in
Palestine. We further said at that time that a * Palestine
re-peopled by a Jewry bound to the Allies, and not least to
Britain, by ties of affection for righting the oldest national
wrong, would be a friendly neighbour to Egypt and to the
newly enfranchised territories abutting upon the Holy
Land.' "
The Edinburgh Evening Dispatch expressed the following
views : —
" The aspirations of the Jewish race to return to the Holy
Land seem not unlikely of fulfilment. Scattered over the
face of the earth, they daily turn their eyes towards Jeru-
salem and pray for the day when they will be restored to the
land of their origin. We are fighting to-day not for aggran-
dizement, not for the acquisition of territory, but for the liber-
ation of peoples crushed by the tyrant, and there is no just
and reasonable demand which would not be sympathetically
considered by the British Government. Our progress in
Palestine has awakened in the breasts of the ' chosen people '
fresh hopes of re-establishment in their Fatherland."
The Glasgow Herald, writing in a similar vein, said : —
*' From their aeroplanes British aviators may have ob-
PRESS COMMENTS 91
tained a glimpse of the white domes and towers of the Holy
City, high upon the crest of the Palestinian ridge. That
possibility is symbolic of the effect upon the Jewish world
of the British Cabinet's declaration in favour of Zionism.
What has long been the dream of virtually the whole Jewish
race — even of those whose inward despair expressed itself
outwardly by a cynical dismissal of Zionism as the mirage of
over-heated fancy — ^has now taken definite shape on the
horizon of practical poUtics."
In the further article in the same issue the Government
adoption of the Zionist policy was further commented
upon : —
" With singular timehness, for it coincides with the
victories of Gaza and Tekrit, Mr. Balfour has written a letter
to Lord Rothschild announcing the adhesion of the British
Government to Zionism. With the reservation of the civil
and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine, and without prejudice to the rights and political
status enjoyed by Jews in any other country, Palestine,
when it has been conquered, is to become a national home
for the Jewish people. With numerically small exceptions
this decision — on which we comment more fully elsewhere —
will be accepted with joy by all the Jews of the Dispersion
throughout the world. It will have an immediate political
efl[ect in America and in Russia, no less than in Poland and
Hungary. It will tell to the advantage of the Allies even in
Bagdad. In the Levant generally it should unite the Jews
with the Arabs, Greeks, and ItaHans in revolt against the
Turks. But its great ultimate influence, as all will pray, will
be to affect for the b^cter in many subtle ways the relations
of Christian and Jew throughout the world. If that should
happen one of the most insidious diseases from which
civilization has suffered will have been cured."
According to The Aberdeen Free Press : —
" This is the first time that any Government has definitely
put itself in touch with Zionist ideals, and the new departure
is as important as it is timely."
**. . . In many ways the moment appears to be a pe-
culiarly favourable one for preparing to launch the scheme
for providing * a national home for the Jewish people in
Palestine ' in the sphere of the practical. The Zionist idea
has passed through many changes, and may pass through
many more. . . . Never until now have time and place and
92 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
opportunity been in accord with the dream of returning and
building up Zion. Mr. Balfour's letter, read in the hght of
General AUenby's march upon Hebron, may well sound hke
the long-postponed answer to the prayer of the exiled and
persecuted race, ' Next year, Lord, in Jerusalem I ' "
(Scotsman.)
The Dundee Advertiser also put itself in Hne with its con-
temporaries which commented on the Government's pro-
nouncement : —
** Palestine wiU, therefore, be a suitable field for im-
migration, and by tradition and inclination the Jews are the
people to occupy it. Already before the war a number of
colony settlements had been estabHshed, chiefly by Jewish
immigrants from Eastern Europe, and without exception
these settlements were thriving. One and all they were
agricultural, and contradicted the prevaihng belief that the
Jew is bound to become a trader or an artisan, and will never
undertake the tillage of the soil. The Jewish colonies were
models of up-to-date agricultural enterprise, in which the
best scientific knowledge of irrigation and dry-farming was
appHed. A very pleasing prospect is therefore opening up.
.... In the fulness of time a new page in the history of the
Holy Land is being opened by AUenby's army."
The Irish Times expressed its views in the following
passage : —
" These fortunate circumstances invest with especial
significance the important declaration of British policy in
Palestine which we printed yesterday. ... In this endorse-
ment of Zionist aspirations at a moment when Jerusalem
can hear the distant thunder of British guns the Government
has declared a policy of great and far-reaching importance.
It is at last an attainable pohcy, and it is from every Doint
of view a desirable policy. From the British point of view
the defence of the Suez Canal can best be secured by the
estabhshment in Palestine of a people attached to us, and
the restoration of the Jews under British auspices can alone
secure it in this way. From the European point of view it
would be a great gain that the Jews should become, in the
words of The Jewish Chronicle, * a nation, and not a hyphen-
ation.' "
A leading article in The Western Daily Press ran in part
as follows : —
PRESS COMMENTS 93
". . . There is no other solution so much demanded by
historical association and living sentiment as that, if it be
possible, the Jewish people should retake possession of the
small but intensely interesting country over which they
ruled, with some interruptions, for nearly two thousand
years. Mr. Balfour's declaration has dehghted many in-
fluential British Jews. It can hardly fail to delight equally
the Jews of Poland and Russia, who have suffered so much
from the ' religious ' bigotry of ignorant people, and the
Jews of Germany and Austria, often very wealthy and in-
fluential, will be forced to ask themselves why they are at
present helping to preserve Turkish rule over a country
which the British are anxious to restore to the Jewish
race."
The Hull Daily Mail said : —
"It is a wise and sagacious offer, and has given great
satisfaction in Jewish communities. It will be a great thing
if Palestine is delivered from the blighting, blasting influence
of the Turk, and he must never again be given possession if
it is finally won from his grasp. The Jews were a pastoral
people, and, once they were in possession, this land, under
the blessing of Providence, would again flow * with milk
and honey,' and blossom as the rose under the protecting
hand of Britain and other guaranteeing Powers."
And The Newcastle Daily Journal : —
*' The Zionist project has, at last, the prospect of achieving
its purpose, under the very highest auspices, humanly speak-
ing. It looks like a first step towards the restoration repre-
sentatively of the long-persecuted and widely-scattered
Jewish race."
Other provincial newspapers that commented on the
Government's announcement were The Dublin Express,
The Northern Whig, The Belfast Newsletter, The Bulletin,
The South Wales Daily News, and The Northern Daily
Telegraph.
The African World also welcomed the proposals whole-
heartedly : —
" The announcement yesterday that the British Govern-
ment * view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a
national home for the Jewish people ' and the Cabinet's
intention to further the scheme cherished by Zionists is an
event of world-wide importance. A home for Jews on the
94 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
soil traditionally sacred to them, and under British auspices
and protection, is the happiest outcome of the dream of
ages/'
The Shipping World said : —
" For a number of decades there has been a movement,
partly idealistic, partly practical, for restoring the Jewish
race to their ancient territorial home. That movement is
known as Zionism, and is strongly supported in the Jewish
communities both in Europe and in America. Assisted by
funds subscribed by the wealthier members of the race,
some settlers had already formed under Turkish rule Zionist
settlements in the Holy Land. But colonization under
Turkish tolerance is a precarious thing. Now appears the
dawn of promise, and Mr. Balfour has just addressed a letter
to Lord Rothschild expressing the sympathy of the Cabinet
with Jewish Zionist aspirations. The Government favour
the estabhshment in Palestine of a national home for the
Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facih-
tate the achievement of that object. What form the en-
deavour is to take is, at this point, left obscure, purposely,
no doubt. But we may in this hint perhaps see the nucleus
of a free State where the children of Israel, gathered once
more from the ends of the earth, shall again possess the land
of their ancestors and live free from alien oppression."
The Near East devoted its leading article to " The Land of
Promise " : —
" On the other hand, Palestine is for all true Jews a
spiritual centre, and deep down in their being they associate
with it, if not their own individual place of residence, at
least the home of a sufficient number of Jewish people to
make it the focus of Jewish hfe and Jewish civilization.
Such a Jewish commonwealth can only grow up to fulfil its
destiny under the protection of a strong and ordered State,
which will guarantee it immunity from outside interference,
security of life and property, and the impartial administra-
tion of justice. For its own material development it must
look to itself, and in this connection it will be recalled that
Jewish agricultural and urban settlements already exist in
Palestine, and are a nucleus ready to hand for the new
commonwealth. They point to the probable lines on which
the development of the country will take place, expedited
or retarded, according to the degree of assistance on which
Zionism can count. The valley is full of bones, and, lo !
PRESS COMMENTS 95
they are very dry ; many stages have to be passed through
before these dry bones stand upon their feet, an exceeding
great army. Of Palestine it will then be true that ' This
land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden,
and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become
fenced and are inhabited.' Towards that consummation it
would seem that Great Britain in the dispensation of Provi-
dence will have played no small part."
Palestine, the organ of the British Palestine Committee,
was, not surprisingly, filled with enthusiasm and eloquence,
for the Government pronouncement is the culmination of
all its efforts : —
" The decision of the British Government marks a turning-
point in the history of the Jewish people, and will, we be-
' lieve, be for ever memorable in the history of the British
Empire. . . . The declaration is complete in form and
substance. It can provoke no opposition from any quarter,
and it will bind the Jews of the world in sympathy to the
country which has thus taken the lead in their national
redemption. . . . And when the Declaration becomes an
act, when a Jewish Palestine from being an aim becomes a
fact, then all the complex of strategic, political, and com-
mercial interests which are concentrated for the British
Empire in the Suez Canal and Palestine will have found their
solution. This declaration is a memorable event in the
history of the British Empire as it is in the history of
the Jewish people and of humanity. We may be of good
hope that it will at no very distant date become a fact,
for the army of England has even now battered in the
gates of Palestine. The statesmanship of this declaration of
the Jewish nation's right to Palestine is a statesmanship of
deed, not of words."
The Church, Catholic, and Nonconformist papers have
devoted much space to the Government decision. In the
opinion of The Challenge : —
" If there is a considerable part of the Jewish people eager
to make Palestine again their home, then we are glad that
the Allied Governments should have made it possible for
them to do so, supposing that the course of the war leaves
that possibiUty still open. It must be for the Jewish people
themselves to decide how much or how httle advantage
they will take of the offer which is made to them. Mean-
while no one can avoid feeling a thrill at a prospect so closely
96 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
affecting the destiny of the chosen race. That wonderful
people pursues its way through all the history of the world,
and whatever concerns them is of universal interest."
According to The Christian : —
" By this dramatic declaration an age-long dream comes
within the view of actual fulfilment. It ought to be apparent
to everybody that the persistence of a people like the Jews
during two thousand years — a fact unparalleled in history —
despite every attempt to crush them, holds a meaning far
deeper than that which the secular historian offers. The
purposes of God are being worked out, and we can begin to
see light."
In The Church Family Newspaper the Rev. E. L. Langston,
under the heading " Jews and Palestine : Epoch-making
Announcement," said : —
" The declaration of His Majesty's Government as to
the future of Palestine must have far-reaching and vital
effects. ..."
In the words of The Catholic Times : —
" The settling down of Jews from Great Britain, America,
and the Continent of Europe in the Holy Land is something
like a romance of a war in the main features of which scarcely
any romantic element has, so far, appeared."
The Christian Commonwealth said : —
" The historical interest and the rehgious importance of
this promise will appeal nearly as much to non-Jewish people
as to the Jews themselves. . . . We may yet Uve to see
Palestine become the centre of trade and travel for the three
continents of the Old World. The early colonization move-
ment has crystalHzed into something more dramatic — the
re-establishment of a whole people on the soil of the land
where their national history began. Their long exile is draw-
ing to an end. From this redeemed and rejuvenated people
what new message may we not expect, seeing that their faith
has so manifestly been justified and the vision of their
prophets realized ! "
" We are quite unable to find words," said The Life of
Faith, '' wherewith to express the wonderful importance of
the above declaration made by His Majesty's Government.
... It is not too much to say that this great declaration
contains the making of history, even as it forms a new epoch
PRESS COMMENTS 97
for the Jewish race. . . . We welcome the declaration all
the more because we, too, have an inborn love for the Holy
Land, and because we can so deeply sympathize with the
Jewish people, whose passionate affection for the land of
their fathers has never been torn from their hearts, in spite
of centuries of persecution and wanderings. There is, after
ail, some little excuse for the sentimental yearnings of
the Rabbis who expressed their heartfelt passion in such
sayings as :
" ' The very air of Palestine makes one wise.'^
'"To live in Palestine is equal to the observance of all the
commandments. ' ^
" * He that hath his permanent abode in Palestine is sure
of the Hfe to come.' "^
The Methodist Times said : —
" Naturally this declaration, which will be celebrated in
history, has given the liveliest satisfaction to Jewry through-
out the world. The pledge is as sagacious as it is opportune."
And prints in addition a long article by Mr. C. W. Andrews,
entitled : " Palestine for the Jews : the Triumph of Zionism."
And in the words of The Sunday School Chronicle : —
" For two thousand years the Jews have been wandering
among the nations. It looks as though a new day were dawn-
ing for them and for the world. . . . Apart from the moral
significance of such a return, an independent Jewish State
would make the Holy Land a centre of commercial and
political influence of far-reaching importance to the British
Empire and to the Far East."
The British Weekly, The Church Times, The Christian
World, The Inquirer, and The Guardian also commented
editorially on the Government's pronouncement.
The Jewish Chronicle, in a leading article, said : —
". . . It is the perceptible lifting of the cloud of centuries,
the palpable sign that the Jew — condemned for two thousand
years to unparalleled wrong — is at last coming to his right.
\i'V n:p'T «-inn t^nn
: miratz? ny^i^n b^ liiiD Th^^w bbnt»'^ \n« nn>tt7'> ...(*)
]3tt7 ntaniD «n’» . . . bs-i2;’> \nsa ^^’zpw ^d b^ . . . ” (^
” : sin «nn Dbi3?n
II. — H
98 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
The prospect has at last definitely opened of a rectification
of the Jew’s anomalous position among the nations of the
earth. He is to be given the opportunity and the means
whereby, in place of being a hyphenation, he can become a
nation. Instead of, as Jew, filling a place at best equivocal
and doubtful, even to himself, and always with an apologetic
cringing inseparable from his position, he can — as Jew —
stand proud and erect, endowed with national being. In
place of being a wanderer in every clime, there is to be a
home for him in his ancient land. The day of his exile is to
be ended. In this joyous hour we Enghsh Jews turn with
feeUngs of deepest pride and reverence to great and glorious
Britain, mother of free nations and protectress of the
oppressed, who has thus taken the lead in the Jewish restor-
ation. The friend of our people for generations, who has
raised her voice times out of number for our suffering
mart3n:s, never was she truer to her noble traditions than to-
day — never more England than now ! In the time to come,
when Jewry, free and prosperous, lives a contented and, as
we aU hope, a lofty life in Palestine, it will look with never-
f aiUng gratitude to the Power which crowned its centuries
of humanitarrianism by a grand act that Hnked Jewish
destinies with those of the freest democracy in the world.”
The Jewish people all over the world was deeply impressed
by the Declaration. As the correspondent of the London
Jewish Chronicle puts it, ” The Jewish masses were literally
dazzled.” A great demonstration, unparalleled for en-
thusiasm, occurred at Petrograd, and was addressed by
M. Boris Goldberg and M. Aleinikoff, who styled England the
” advanced guard of humanity.” He spoke in the highest
praise of the English Labour Party for its sympathetic
attitude toward the movement, and of the American
Zionists for their defence of the Jewish colonies in Palestine
since the outbreak of the war. Tributes were paid to the
memory of Dr. Theodor Herzl and other leaders of the
Movement who have passed away, of the British soldiers
killed in the Campaign in Palestine, and to the Hashomerim
who have died in defence of the Jewish colonies. Two
soldiers, Levitzky and Kotlarevsky, greeted the Declaration
on behalf of the Jewish Soldiers’ Union.
Tremendous enthusiasm prevailed throughout Russian
Jewry because of the British Declaration ; and reports
received from Moscow, Minsk, Ekaterinoslav, Kieff, Khar-
koff, Odessa and Kherson are to the effect that tens of
THE DEMONSTRATION 99
thousands of Jews who had hitherto been either neutral or
inimical, joined the Zionist Movement. Special ser-
vices of thanksgiving were held in many synagogues
and many mass meetings, vieing with one another in en-
thusiasm, v>ere held almost everywhere. Many organ-
izations of Jewish youth signified their intention to make
whatever sacrifices might be demanded of them for the
Zionist ideal. The Russian Press, with practical unanimity,
spoke of the great importance of the Declaration, and
described it as a momentous event for the Jews, offering the
longed-for opportunity to build a national Jewish homeland
in Palestine.
The enthusiasm in America found expression in thousands
of telegramxS, public meetings, resolutions, thanksgiving
services. At the Baltimore Zionist Conference on December
15th a resolution was passed thanking the British Govern-
ment for the Declaration, which stated, ” Deeply we rejoice
in the triumph of the British arms in Palestine, and the tak-
ing over of Palestine as another step in the march of the
Allied Forces which is to establish throughout the world the
principle of the liberty of smaller nationalities.” In all
other countries the Declaration was discussed by public
opinion in a most favourable sense.
On November 18, 1917, a reception was held by the
English Zionist Federation at which Lord Rothschild officially
communicated to the Federation the Declaration of the
English government. Hundreds of congratulatory tele-
grams received from all parts of the world aroused
enthusiasm. Lord Rothschild, Dr. Tschlenow, Dr. Weiz-
mann, Mr. James de Rothschild, and the author delivered
addresses in commemoration of this historic event in the
life of the Jewish people.
» LONDON OPERA HOUSE DEMONSTRATION
Some account must be given of the Demonstration
at the London Opera House of the 2nd December held in
order to express gratitude to the British Government. This
great demonstration was attended by thousands of persons.
The resolution read by Lord Rothschild, who presided over
the meeting, expressed gratitude from all sections of Anglo-
Jewry for the Government declaration in favour of estab-
lishing in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people.
Every member of the audience seemed to feel the greatness
of the occasion.
100 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Lord Rothschild said they were met on the most
momentous occasion in the history of Judaism for the last
eighteen hundred years. They were there to return thanks
to His Majesty’s Government for a declaration which marked
an epoch in Jewish history of outstanding importance. For
the first time since the Dispersion the Jewish people had
received its proper status by the Declaration of one of the
great Powers. That Declaration, while acknowledging and
approving of the aspirations of the Jewish people for a
National Home, at the same time placed Jews on their
honour to respect the rights and privileges not only of their
prospective non- Jewish neighbours in Palestine, but also of
those of their own people who did not see eye to eye with the
Zionist cause. FeeUng as he did that the aims of Zionism
were in no way incompatible with the highest patriotism
and loyal citizenship of the Jews in the various countries in
which they were dwelling, he would like the meeting in pass-
ing the resolution which would be submitted to them to
assure the Government that they would, one and all,
faithfully observe both the spirit and the letter of their
gracious declaration. He felt sure that the principal aim
of the Zionists was to provide a National Home for those
portions of the Jewish people who wished to escape the
possibilities in the future of such oppression and ill-treatment
as they had endured in the past, and he therefore held that
all and every section of opinion in the Jewish people could
work together for the estabhshment in Palestine of such a
home, so as to make it a triumphant success.
It had often been said that the repeopling of Palestine
by the Jews was bound to fail in so far as they were not an
agricultural people, but they might dismiss that fear from
their minds in view of the success of the great Jewish
agricultural colonies which were estabhshed in Palestine
before the war. The only thing necessary to achieve
success in the movement was a thoroughly up-to-date
organization for the development of the land, and for the
guidance and selection of the settlers, who must act as
pioneers. The aims of what now appeared to be antagonistic
bodies of opinion, seemed to him to be so similar that he felt
sure that when those objects had been properly examined
in the light of experience they would find, sooner or later,
that a common ground would present itself for all of those
professing these apparently divergent opinions to work to-
gether in a common effort to make the re-settlement of
SPEECH OF LORD ROBERT CECIL loi
Palestine a great and lasting success. Lord Rothschild
then moved the following resolution : —
“That this mass meeting, representing all sections of
the Jewish Community in the United Kingdom, conveys
to His Majesty’s Government an expression of heartfelt
gratitude for their Declaration in favour of the estabHsh-
ment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.
It assures His Majesty’s Government that their historic
action in support of the national aspirations of the Jewish
people has evoked among Jews the most profound senti-
ments of joy. This meeting further pledges its utmost
endeavours to give its whole-hearted support to the
Zionist cause.”
The Right Hon. Lord Robert Cecil, p.c, k.c, m.p., who was
received with loud cheering, said : “I have come here with the
greatest possible pleasure at the request of those who repre-
sent, or who have led the representation of the Zionist move-
ment of this country, to offer to you, and to all Zionism, my
hearty congratulation on the event which you are celebrat-
ing to-day. And perhaps you will allow me to mention
in connection with these congratulations, not only your
Chairman, but also Mr. Nahum Sokolow and Dr. C. Weiz-
mann, who have done so much for the cause that we all have
at heart this afternoon. Surely all of us must feel what a
very striking gathering the present one is. The key-
note of our meeting this afternoon is liberation. We
welcome among us not only the many thousands of Jews
that I see, but also representatives of the Arabian and
Armenian races who are also in this great struggle strugghng
to be free. Our wish is that Arabian countries shall
be for the Arabs, Armenia for the Armenians, and
Judea for the Jews. Yes, and let us add, if it can
be so, let Turkey, real Turkey, be for the Turks. I
should Hke to be allowed to say that the part that this
country is taking in this movement is not a new thing.
I venture to claim for this country that in supporting
Zionism it has been merely carrying out its traditional
pohcy. To me, at any rate, it seems that there are
two great foundations upon which the pohcy of this country
has always been based. I believe that they are often
described by the two words * Liberty and Justice.’ Perhaps,
more accurately they may be called the supremacy of the
Law and Liberty, for, be well assured, if we are ever to
ita
102 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
obtain that security which we have been recently told is so
important for us, if we are ever to lift European civilization
and national relations in Europe out of the anarchy in which
they at present are, it must be by the same means by which
we have secured liberty and happiness in each country,
namely, by the supremacy of Law. And it was because the
invasion of Belgium, the lawless invasion of Belgium, was
felt by the true instincts of the British people to be an
attack upon the principle of Law, because they recognized
that that was a real blow at the heart of civilization, that
they felt then, and they feel now, that until that outrage
has been expiated it is impossible even to think of talk-
ing of the terms of peace. As for the second foundation
of which I have spoken, and which has more practical
bearing on our proceedings this afternoon, may I say this,
we hear a great deal of a new word : ‘ self-determination.’
Well, I don’t know that it is a new thing. It certainly is not
new in the British Empire. The Empire has always striven
to give to all the peoples that make it up the fullest
measure of self-government of which they are capable.
We have always striven to give to all peoples within
our bounds complete Hberty and equality before the
Law. We are adjured to respect the principle of
self-determination, but I say that the British Empire was
the first organization to teach that principle to the world,
and one of the great causes for which we are in this war is to
secure to all peoples the right to govern themselves and to
work out their own destiny, irrespective of the threats
and menaces of their greater neighbour. One of the
great steps — in my judgment, in some ways the greatest
step — we have taken in carrying out this principle is the
recognition of Zionism. This is the first constructive effort
that we have made in what I hope will be the new settle-
ment of the world after the war. I do not say that that
is the only thing involved. It is not only the recognition of
a nationality, it is much more than that. It has great under-
lying ideals of which you will hear this afternoon, and of
which it would be impertinent of me to speak. It is, indeed,
not the birth of a nation, for the Jewish nation through
centuries of oppression and captivity have preserved their
sentiment of nationality as few peoples could ; but if
it is not the birth of agnation, I believe we may say it
is the re-birth of a nation. I don’t like to prophesy
what ultimate results that great event may have, but for
SPEECH OF RT. HON. H. SAMUEL, M.P. 103
myself I believe it will have a far-reaching influence on the
history of the world and consequences which none can fore-
see on the future history of the human race.”
The Right Hon. Herbert Samuel, M.P., who received an en-
thusiastic welcome, said : “I rejoice whole-heartedly in the
pronouncement that has been made by the British Govern-
ment with respect to Palestine. It is a policy which for nearly
three years I have urged in the Cabinet and out of the Cabinet
at every opportunity that arose. The fears and the
doubts which this policy has evoked are, I firmly believe,
unfounded. Three conditions must indeed be observed in
any new development that may take place in Palestine. In
the first place, there must be full, just recognition of the
rights of the Arabs, who now constitute the majority of the
population of that country. Secondly, there must be a
reverent respect for the Christian and Mohammedan holy
places, which in all eventuahties should always remain in
the control and charge of representatives of those faiths.
In the third place, there must be no attempt now or in
the future to estabhsh anything in the nature of pohtical
authority from Palestine over the Jews scattered in other
countries of the world, who must probably always remain
the great majority of the Jewish race. There should be no
disturbance, large or small, direct or indirect, in their
national status or in their national rights and duties in the
countries of which they are, or should be, full and equal
citizens. On all these matters there is no divergence of
opinion in any quarter, and the controversies that have
taken place, I venture to think, are disputes over differences
that do not exist. The reason why, for my own part, I sup-
port the poHcy which we are here to-day to approve and
celebrate, are chiefly these. First, it may be that the genius
of the Jewish race will again be able to give the world a
brilliant and distinctive civilization. The richness of man-
kind hes in its diversity. We do not want the world
to be Hke some great library, consisting of nothing but in-
numerable copies of one and the same book. The Jewish
mind is a distinctive thing. It combines in remarkable
degree the imaginative and the practical, the ideal and the
positive. This combination of qualities enabled it for one
thousand five hundred years in Palestine to produce an
almost unbroken series of statesmen and soldiers, judges and
poets, prophets and seers — thinkers and leaders who have
left for all time their impress upon the world. The Jewish
104 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
mind is tenacious and persists, and now, when all the power-
ful Empires that over-ran that land have been overthrown
and almost forgotten, the Jewish people exists and is more
numerous to-day than it ever has been at any period of its
history. Who knows, I say, but that if it again finds a
spiritual centre of its own, soundly based on an industrious
population, untrammelled, self-contained, inspired by the
memories of a splendid past, it may again produce goMen
fruits in the fields of intellect for the enrichment of the
whole world. And my other reason is this : If this
comes to be, what a helpful effect it would have upon
the Jewish proletariat that will still remain scattered in
other countries of the world. I see in my mind’s eye those
millions in Eastern Europe all through the centuries,
crowded, cramped, proscribed, bent with oppression, suffer-
ing all the miseries of active minds denied scope, of talent
not allowed to speak, of genius that cannot act. I see them
enduring, suffering everything, sacrificing everything in
order to keep alight the flame of which they knew them-
selves to be the lamp, to keep alive the idea of which they
knew themselves to be the vessel, to preserve the soul
of which they knew themselves to be the body ; their eyes
always set upon one distant point, always believing that
somehow, some day, the ancient greatness would be restored ;
always sajdng when they met in their famihes on Passover
Night, ” Next year in Jerusalem.” Year after year, genera-
tion following generation, century succeeding century, till
the time that has elapsed is counted in thousands of years,
still they said, ” Next year in Jerusalem.” If that cherished
vision is at last to be reaUzed, if on the Hills of Zion a Jewish
civilization is restored with something of its old intellectual
and moral force, then among those left in the other countries
of the world, I can see growing a new confidence and a new
greatness. There will be a fresh light in those eyes, those
bent backs will at last stand erect, there will be a
greater dignity in the Jew throughout the world. That
is why we meet to-day to thank the British Government
— our own Government — that has made all this pos-
sible, that we shall be able to say, not as a pious and
distant wish, but as a near and confident hope :
” thmi’^i nxnn n^^h-” ” Next year in Jerusalem ! ”
The Chief Rabbi said it was indeed a rare privilege to
take part in that wonderful meeting called together to
express the heartfelt thanks of British Jewry for the striking
SPEECH OF THE CHIEF RABBI 105
sympathy of His Majesty’s Government with Jewish aspira-
tions. The epoch-making Declaration on Palestine was an
assurance given by the mightiest of empires that the new
order which the Allies are now creating at such sacrifice of
life and treasure shall be rooted in righteousness, and broad-
based on the liberty of, and reverence for, every oppressed
nationahty. It was a solemn pledge that the oldest of
national tragedies shall be ended in the coming readjustment
of the nations which shall console mankind for the slaughter
and waste and torment of this terrible world-war.
In the face of an event of such infinite importance to the
Jewish people, ordinary words of appreciation or the usual
phrases of gratitude were hopelessly weak and inadequate.
For the interpretation of their true feelings to-day they must
turn to Scripture. Twenty-five hundred years ago Cyrus
issued his edict of liberation to the Jewish exiles in Babylon ;
and an eye-witness of that glorious day had left them in the
126th Psalm a record of how their fathers received the
announcement of their dehverance : —
” When the Lord brought back those that returned to Zion,
We were like unto them that dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing ;
Then said they among the nations :
‘The Lord hath done great things with these.’
The Lord hath done great things with us ;
We are rejoiced.”
Theirs was a similar feeling of joy and wonder. With them
likewise it was the astonishment of the nations, the re-
assuring approbation of statesmen and rulers that caused
them to exclaim : ” We will see it done, and done consum-
m.ately, the thing so many have thought could never be
done ! ”
The spirit of the Declaration was that of absolute justice,
whether to Jews out of Palestine, or to non-Jews in Palestine.
They especially welcomed in it the reference to the civil and
rehgious rights of the existing non-Jewish communities in
Palestine. That was but a translation of the basic prin-
ciples of the Mosaic legislation. But it was the substance
of the Declaration — the promise of a National Home for the
Jewish people — that filled their souls with gladness. For
only on its own soil could the Jewish people live its own life,
and make, as in the past it had made, its characteristic and
specific contributions to the spiritual treasure of humanity.
io6 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
After the proclamation issued by Cyrus, the mass of the
Jewish people still remained in Babylon. All told, only
forty-two thousand men, women and children took ad-
vantage of the king’s proclamation and followed Ezra back
to Zion, the land of their fathers. But that handful of
Zionists and their descendants, because living on their own
soil, changed the entire future of mankind. They edited
and collected the Prophets, wrote some of the fairest por-
tions of the Scriptures, formed the canon of the Bible,
and gave the world its monotheistic rehgions. Now, as
then, 2)^’^ “in:^^ ” A remnant shall return.” But now, as then,
it was the national rejuvenation of that remnant that is to
open a new chapter in the annals of the human spirit.
Difficulties ? Of course there were difficulties. The
task of laying the foundations of a new Israel must be one
of long toil and severe trial. But a people that for twenty-
five centuries had stood victoriously against the storm of
time, possessed vitality enough, patience enough, ideahsm
enough, with the help of God, to rise to the level of this
unique, world-historic opportunity.
Lieut. -Colonel Sir Mark Sykes, Bart., m.p., said : ” My lords,
ladies and gentlemen, I should like to say, before I say one
other word, that the reason I am interested in this movement
is that I met one some two years ago who is now upon this
platform, and who opened my eyes as to what this move-
ment meant. He is on the list of speakers ; you will hear
him presently ; his name is known to most in the records of
Zionism : I mean Dr. Gaster. I speak as one from without,
as a watcher, but I feel, as everyone present must feel, that
this meeting here to-day marks not a turning-point in the
history of your own race, but I think certainly a turning-
point in the history of the whole world. When one thinks
of the. years that have passed, of the immense spaces of
history which stand between what was — and now is —
promised, one is truly dazzled by the possibilities and
prospects which open before us. I see, speaking to you as a
watcher — now you, in a sense, are perhaps watchers also —
perhaps you see something, perhaps you see three nations
stricken with plague, cumbered with ruin, and Europe a
welter of blood. Perhaps you see these three nations, and
you realize that it may be your destiny to be a bridge between
Asia and Europe, to bring the spirituaHty of Asia to Europe,
and the vitality of Europe to Asia. That I firmly believe is
the mission of Zionism. I see here something which is
SPEECH OF SIR MARK SYKES, M.P. 107
greater than a dream or a League of Nations. It is a league
of continents, a league of races, and finally a league of ideals.
That is a great vision. That is what I believe lies before you,
but no one present realizes more than I do — I know the
ground, some of it — and boldly I dare to say that there lie
before you dangers, difficulties, possibly obstructions, but,
ladies and gentlemen, your time of probation has been long,
you are schooled in adversity, you can look to difficulties
with calm, and you will overcome them. I do not look
for a sudden magic transformation, but I beHeve you
are beginning a great beneficial and irresistible transition.
That is what you are beginning. Now, I believe, I hope you
are going to set up a power that is not the domination of
blood, not the domination of gold, but the domination of a
great intellectual force. I believe you will see Palestine the
great centre of ideals, radiating out to every country in
the world where your people are, and if there is one
thing that gives me pleasure to be here to-day, it is to feel
that at this turning-point of your history, when the Govern-
ment made its Declaration, you not only thought of your-
selves but you thought also of others, and you will always
look back with joy to the fact that when the promise, when
the hope was held out to you of redemption, you thought
not only of yourselves, but thought of your fellows in
adversity, the Armenians and the Syrian Arabs. It is said
that the Jewish people have a long memory. I believe that
you remember Cordova, where your influence on modern
civilization was at its zenith, and I think you remember what
you owed to the Arabs in Cordova. You remember in the
days when the Jews were so oppressed in Russia wh
It is said
that the Jewish people have a long memory. I believe that
you remember Cordova, where your influence on modern
civilization was at its zenith, and I think you remember what
you owed to the Arabs in Cordova. You remember in the
days when the Jews were so oppressed in Russia what you
owed to the Armenians, who were your companions in
oppression. These tragedies are very different in their
nature, and three tragedies destined to unite in one triumph.
If all three hold together, the realization of your ideal is
certain. There are evil people who will desire that you
should fail. If these three forces should be dismissed, there
will be the danger of any one of them becoming the prey of
a political adventurer, militarist, or the financier. For
Palestine to be a success you must have a satisfied and
tranquil Syria. For Hberty to be certain in Palestine, you
must have guarantees that no savage races shall return there.
You want to see Armenia free because you want to know
that all people are free. You want to know the Arab is free,
because he is, and always will be, your neighbour. Lastly,
io8 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
I would also say this : I look forward through difficulty and
through pain to see Armenia free, and to prove the inevitable
triumph of right over the greatest might there may be. I
look to see the Arab civihzation restored once more in
Bagdad and in Damascus, and I look to see the return of
Israel, with his majesty and tolerance, hushing mockery and
dispelling doubt ; and all three nations giving out to the
world the good that God has infused into them.”
Dr. M. Gaster said he stood before them not as a new
Zionist, but as an old friend. He stood before them, the old
Zionist, deeply imbued with the spirit of faith, beheving in
the truth of the word of God and the glorious promise in
store for our people, a dreamer of visions, if they would.
People had mocked at their visions and ideals, at their
aspirations and their hopes, and yet they continued their
work, unswerving in their enthusiasm. What appeared
to so many as a dream had now become a reality —
and they were gathered there to begin to reap in
joy what they had sown in tears and sorrow. He had
originally acclaimed Herzl as the leader of the movement,
and he had had to bear the burden of the difficulties, but he
had been true to the trust and had kept the flag of Zion
flying, and it was now for him, and for all of them, a day of
joy to see the fruits which they had so long wished for.
They had come together to thank the British Government
for le heau geste, in the inimitable French, for their declara-
tion of sympathy with their national aspirations. But
Zionism was neither a local question nor did it affect
EngHsh Jewry, except in a very small proportion. It was a
movement which affected the whole of the race. Every Jew,
therefore, wherever he might be, was united in that senti-
ment of gratitude. They were there, representing the feeling
which animated the Jews of all the world. Therein lay the
greatness of the British Government — that it had lifted the
problem from its local geographical character and given to it
that universally valued importance which they attached to
it. But what Zionism stands for must be clearly appre-
hended, and ,also what the Declaration of the British
Government was expected to embody. The term ” National
Home ” was a circumlocution of the original word which
formed part of the Basle programme, the foundation-stone
of Zionism, and that word had been chosen when no definite
political meaning could be assigned to it. Circumstances
had changed. It was for them to give to the word its
SPEECH OF DR. GASTER 109
true original meaning. What they wished to obtain in
Palestine was not merely a right to estabhsh colonies, or
educational, cultural, or industrial institutions . They wanted
to establish in Palestine an autonomous Jewish Common-
wealth in the fullest sense of the word. They wanted
Palestine to be Palestine of the Jews and not merely a
Palestine for Jews. They wished the land to be again what
it was in olden times and what it had been for Jews in their
prayers and in their Bible — a land of Israel. The ground
must be theirs. They stood, indeed, as a people for the
same programme as British statesmen were standing
to-day in a larger sphere. Jews stood for reparation,
restitution, and guarantees, and it was in the very
application of those principles that the greatness and im-
portance of the Declaration of the British Government stood
out so luminously. England owed to Jews no reparation.
Here they had liberty, full freedom, equaUty of right and
equaUty of duty, and they had risen to the responsibihty
which had thus been placed upon them. For many of them
there had their children now fighting the battles of England.
But the British Government had now made itself the
champion of reparation to the Jewish people for the wrongs
done to them by the world. It had made itself a champion,
too, of the restitution of the land to our nation for whom it
is the old inheritance, and it had given them a guarantee
— security of tenure, independence, right and freedom of
action as a people, in their ancient land. The estabUshment
of a Jewish Commonwealth in the land of their fathers
would also consoHdate and clarify the position of the rest
of the Jews throughout the world. He believed that a
new world was to arise in which the Jew as Jew would
find himself a free man. In conclusion, he reminded them
of an old legend which told that when the Temple was
destroyed the stones were spUt into splinters and each one
entered the heart of a Jew. It was this memorial of our
fallen nation which the Jew carried in his bosom, and which
bent his back. But they were coming together once again
as a nation in Palestine, and they would take the sphnters
of the stones from out of their hearts — ” and,” exclaimed Dr.
Gaster, ” I feel the stone in my heart already loosening.”
Sheikh Ismail- Abdul-al-Akki then addressed the meeting.
He spoke in Arabic, which was translated by Mr. Israel Sieff,
who mentioned that the speaker was under sentence of death
by the Turkish Government for having joined the Arab
no THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
national movement. Sheikh Ismail said he desired to tender
deep gratitude to the British nation and the British Govern-
ment for affording his countrymen and himself help and
asylum in their hour of persecution. His country was held
in chains by the Turks, who were supplied with German gold,
and he looked with confidence to England and France to
dehver them from bondage, as he believed in the ultimate
good over evil, and was confident in the victory of the Allies.
He not only spoke as an Arab, but as a “Moslem ” Arab,
having studied five years in theological schools and being
granted a degree, and it was the duty of every Moslem to
participate in the movement for the liberation of their
countrymen. The meeting was to celebrate the great act
of the British Government in recognizing the aspirations of
the Jewish people, and he appealed to them not to forget in
the days of their happiness that the sons of Ishmael suffered
also. They had been scattered and confounded as the Jews
had been, and now began to arise, fortified with the sense of
martyrs. He hoped that Palestine would again flow with
milk and honey.
M. Wadia Kesrawani, another Arabian representative,
spoke in French, also to the effect that his countrymen
appealed to England and France for their liberation, and
applauded the Declaration of the Government.
Mr. Israel Zangwill, in supporting the resolution, said : ** In
my capacity of President of the Jewish Territorial Organiza-
tion, I have been honoured with an invitation to appear on
your platform on this momentous occasion. In that capacity
I have often criticized your leaders. But to-day I am here
not for criticism, but for congratulation and co-operation.
I congratulate them, and especially Dr. Weizmann and
Mr. Sokolow, upon their historic achievement in the region
of diplomacy. To see that this is followed by a similar
achievement in the more difficult region of practice is the
duty of all Israel. Particularly is it the duty of the Ito,
founded as it was to procure a territory upon an autonomous
basis. For the Ito to oppose any really practicable plan for
a Jewish territory would be not only treason to the Jewish
people, but to its own programme. And as a first-fruit of
the friendly negotiations with Zionism, which began in July,
I am happy to be able to join with you this afternoon in
welcoming the sympathy of the Government with Jewish
aspirations.”
Mr. Zangwill, of whose speech the above were the
h
THE DEMONSTRATION iii
opening words, spoke at great length, and with even more
than his usual brilliancy. It is with great regret that we are
unable, owing to lack of space, to include the rest of his
oration, with the exception of the concluding paragraph,
which ran as follows : —
“And though our goal be yet far, yet already when I re-
call how our small nation sustained the mailed might of all
the great Empires of antiquity, how we saw our Temple in
flames and were scattered like its ashes, how we endured the
long night of the Middle Ages, illumined by the glare of our
martyrs’ fires, how but yesterday we wandered in our
millions, torn between the ruthless Prussian and the pitiless
Russian, yet have lived to see to-day the bloody Empire of
the Czars dissolve, and the mountains of Zion glimmer on
the horizon. Already I feel we may say to the nations :
Comfort ye, comfort ye, too, poor suffering peoples. Learn
from the long patience of Israel that the spirit is mightier
than the sword, and that the seer who foretold his people’s
resurrection was not less prophetic when he proclaimed also
for all peoples the peace of Jerusalem.”
Capt. the Hon. W. Ormsby-Gore, m.p., said he was parti-
cularly glad the Zionist Declaration had been made by the
British Government at a moment when British arms were
saving that land, because it showed that the British Govern-
ment was not out for gain. The Jewish claim to Palestine
was, to his mind, overwhelming, and he rejoiced to see what
an over^vhelming mass of British representative opinions in
the House of Commons was now supporting the move-
ment. He supported it as a member of the Church of
England, as Sir Mark Sykes had supported it as a Roman
CathoHc. In the return of Palestine to be the Jewish home,
he held out the hand of friendship to the Zionists, who
sought to bring it into effect. He felt that behind it
all was the finger of Almighty God. From the moment he
met their Zionist leaders, whether in Egypt or in this
country, he felt there was in them something so sincere, so
British, so straightforward, that at once his heart went out
to them. They had in their leader in this country a man of
great quahties, a statesman who had shown a skill, a deter-
mination, and a patience which had endeared him to every-
one. He (the speaker) had done what httle he could to
help forward the movement, and in the future, if they were
looking out for a friend, they could count him as one of
them.
112 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Mr. H. N. Mostditchian, a member of the Armenian
delegation, said he availed himself of the opportunity of
giving their Jewish brethren the heartiest greetings of the
Armenians and sincerest congratulations for the dawn
about to break upon the glad valleys of their ancestral
land. He made a comparison of the two nations, who had
gone through the same persecutions, but who notwith-
standing wefe not willing to die, and had not died, and
who stood to-day hand-in-hand on the eve of a new era,
when both of them would be able to live once more their
national Hves, of which they had given good evidence in the
past. They all knew that Armenia was one of the first
countries mentioned in the History of the Jews, and there
had reigned one thousand two hundred years ago a Dynasty
of Armenian Kings who had in their veins a good deal of
Jewish blood. After the loss of their independence the Jews
had continued to hve a life of captivity and exile, and the
Armenians, after the loss of their independence, had suffered
the same exile. It was not the time to say what the Ar-
menians had suffered during the last three years, a state of
things to which the worst pogrom was a heaven, but they,
as well as the Jews, looked towards ‘ to-morrow * with great
fervour as a result of the Declaration. They had waited long
enough with their Jewish brethren, for centuries and cen-
turies, and these two nations, as well as the Arabs, would
make Palestine another promised land and a garden of Eden
— a centre to which humanity might look up.
The author then proceeded to read a statement in behalf
of the Executive of the Zionist Organization. The text of
that statement is given later.
Mr. James de Rothschild said he stood there as
the son of one who had spent his hfe in endeavouring
to bring about what they were celebrating that day.
Jewish ideals up to that time had been met at the
gate, but they could not get through. With one stroke
of the pen the EngHsh Government had flung open these
gates. Therefore in every Jewish heart gratitude was
overflowing, and they must not forget that all their aims
of the future had been strengthened by the country whose
Government had framed the generous and just Declara-
tion.
Dr. Ch. Weizmann, President of the EngUsh Zionist Federa-
tion, referred to the many good and brilHant words which had
been said about the Jews, and he hoped that the Jews of to-day
I
MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY 113
and the Jews of to-morrow would rise to the occasion in the
needed power and dignity, and give their answer to the great
resolution, not only in words, but in deeds. It was a fact,
and no metaphor, that twenty centuries looked to see if their
actions were worthy of the opportunity which the British
Government had given them. The present generation had
upon its shoulders the greatest responsibihty of the last two
thousand years, and he prayed that they might be worthy
of that responsibility.
He then called upon the meeting to rise, and with hands
upUfted to take the old historic oath — each man and woman
of them —
The meeting rose en masse, repeating the words of the
psalm amid great enthusiasm, which culminated in the
singing of ” Hatikvah ” (the Jewish national song) and
” God Save the King ” by the Precentors’ Association.
Lord Rothschild, in rising to put the resolution, said it
was a great honour for all of them to feel that they as Jews
had met with a sincere welcome that day from representa-
tives of no fewer than five different religions. He then read
the resolution, which was carried with acclamation, the
whole audience rising.
Among those who sent messages to the meeting were the
following : —
From the Right Hon. Viscount Grey of Falloden, k.g.^
I am in entire sympathy with the Declaration made by
Mr. Balfour, and am very glad that this has been announced
pubhcly as the view of the British Government.
From the Right Hon. Walter Long, m.p.^
Mr. Long desires me to thank you for your letter of the
14th ult., and to say that he wishes all success to the Zionist
movement.
From the Right Hon. Arthur Henderson, m.p.*
Labour recognizes the claims generally of Jews in all
countries to the elementary rights of tolerance, freedom of
residence and trade, and equal citizenship, that ought to be
extended to all the inhabitants of every nation’s territory.
Further, it trusts that an understanding may be reached at
^ “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her cunning.” (Psalm cxxxvii. 5.)
‘ Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 1905-19 16.
^ Secretary of State for the Colonies. * Member of the War Cabinet,
n. — I
114 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
the close of the war, whereby Palestine may be set free
and form a State under an International Agreement, to
which Jewish people may return and work out their own
salvation without interference by those of ahen race or
reUgion.
From the Right Hon. the Marquess of Crewe, k.g.^
I have long hoped that it would be possible to make such
a Declaration ; and it is now pronounced in terms that
should be equally welcome to those Jews who have found
happy homes on friendly shores, and to those who have
longed for the re-estabhshment of their race in the ancient
land. Within its borders even now triumphs are being won,
and noble Hves laid down, for the common cause of which
this hope forms part.
From the Right Hon. Viscount Bryce.^
For years past, and especially since my visit to Palestine
in 1914, 1 have been in cordial sympathy with the movement
for re-estabUshing the Jewish population in its ancient home,
and rejoice to see that His Majesty’s Government have
recently expressed their approval of the idea, which will, I
hope, take practical shape in measures to be put through
after the war is over. It will be a great benefit to the Jewish
race everywhere to have this ancient home to look to as the
centre of its national Ufe, even though a comparatively small
part of the race can actually find room to dwell in Palestine.
The country seems to have been recently terribly devastated,
but when its resources have been developed, it can support
a much larger population than it has under the blighting
rule of the Turk. Syrians, Arabs and Armenians are also
interested in being delivered for ever from the ahen domi-
nation of the Turkish invaders.
From the Right Hon. the Earl of Selborne, k.g., g.c.m.g.^
I warmly and altogether adhere to the poUcy of His
Majesty’s Government, in sympathy with Jewish Zionist
aspirations as announced by Mr. Arthur Balfour.
From the late John Edward Redmond, m.p.*
I am in complete sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspira-
tions as I understand them.
* Secretary of State for India, IQ10-1915.
* H.M. Ambassador at Washington, 1907-1913.
» High Commissioner for South Africa, 1 905-1 910.
* Chairman of the Irish Parliamentary Party.
MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY 115
From the Right Hon. Lord Balfour of Burleigh, k.t.,
G.C.M.G., G.c.v.0.1
I am in favour of the estabhshment in Palestine of a
National Home for the Jewish people, and sincerely trust
the policy will be successfully carried out.
From the Right Hon. John Hodge, m.p.^
I fully sympathize with the view expressed in Mr. Balfour’s
letter to Lord Rothschild, and further, may I express the
hope that the end of the war may speedily see the realization
of the Zionist dream.
From Lord Hugh Cecil, m.p.
… I very cordially sympathize with the purpose of it,
and heartily rejoice that there is good prospect of securing
to the Jewish people a National Home in their own country.
From Lord Sydenham of Combe, g.c.m.g., g.c.i.e., g.c.s.i.^
… I am in fullest sympathy with the object, and I am
glad to know that Palestine may again become the National
Home of the Jewish people. This would be one of the many
happy results which, we may hope, will arise from the appal-
hng sacrifices and the abiding sorrow which the war has
brought upon the world.
From the Right Hon. Lord Emmott, g.c.m.g.*
. . . The movement for the estabhshment in Palestine of
a National Home for the Jewish people is one which has my
most cordial sympathy, and I sincerely hope that your
demonstration may be a success.
From the Right Hon. Lord Tennyson, g.c.m.g.^
… It seems to me that the establishment in Palestine
of a National Home for the Jewish people would make for
the peace of the world. This Jewish State should be, as
George Ehot finely says, ” a repubUc where the Jewish spirit
manifests itself in a new order founded on the old.”
From the Rt. Rev. James Cooper, d.d.. Moderator of the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
The Church of Scotland cordially endorses the Declaration
fthe Cabinet in favour alike of the estabhshment in Pales-
^ Secretary for Scotland, 1895- 1903.
^ Minister of Pensions.
^ Governor of Bombay, 1907-19 13.
* Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1911-1914.
‘ Governor-General of Australia, 1 902-1 904.
ii6 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
tine of a National Home for the Jewish people, and of the
maintenance of the civil and religious rights of non- Jewish
communities in a land so dear to Christians and Jews, re-
joices in the prospect of this double honour being given to
Great Britain, and prays that it may usher in a day of the
richest blessings to the whole Israel of God.
From His Excellency Boghos Nubar Pasha, President
of the Armenian National Delegation.
On the occasion of the Zionist meeting, organized by
your Committee, I am happy, as President of the Armenian
National Delegation, to renew the sincere congratulations
of the Armenians for the Declaration which His Britannic
Majesty’s Government has made to you. We participate in
a great measure in the joy which the powerful support gives
you which permits us to hope that in the day of victory of
those who are fighting for the Hberation of oppressed peoples,
the Armenian aspirations will be reahzed at the same time
as the Jewish people will attain the reconstruction of its
nationality and the reahzation of its historic claim to the
soil of its ancestors,
The Jewish Chronicle gave a list of several hundred Jewish
institutions in England which sent congratulatory messages
to the meeting, as well as of an immense number of such
institutions which were represented at the meeting in person.
An overflow meeting, over which Mr. P. Horowitz
presided, was held in the Kings way Theatre, which was
crowded in every part. Among those who addressed the
audience were the Chief Rabbi: Lord Lamington, g.c.m.g.,
G.C.I.E., Mr. Israel Zangwill, Mr. Joseph Cowen, Dr.
Selig Brodetsky, Dr. David Jochelmann, and Mr. Israel
Cohen.
In the course of his observations. Lord Lamington, who
was very cordially received, expressed his pleasure at the
opportunity afforded him to express his sympathy with and
support of the Zionist movement. He cordially agreed with
the statement made by Lord Robert Cecil at the Opera
House, that the Declaration represented the first act of
constructive statesmanship which the alHed nations had so
far carried out on the basis of the great principles of freedom
and justice for the smaller nationaUties, for which they stood.
The Declaration was as much in the British interest as in the
Jewish interest. Both races, as well as the East in general,
THE AUTHOR^S STATEMENT 117
stood to gain, and gain substantially, from an active British
and Jewish co-operation in the Near East.
A resolution in identical terms with that carried at the
London Opera House was passed with much enthusiasm.
The Author’s statement ran as follows : —
The Zionist Organization in the Entente countries which
I have the honour of representing is filled with feelings of the
deepest and keenest satisfaction caused by the Declaration
of His Majesty’s Government of November 2nd. The
Zionist masses are grateful to His Majesty’s Government for
their official and formal statement of their intentions in
clear and unmistakable terms. Posterity will praise the
quahties which are revealed by this historic document ; the
strength of will, the sentiment of uprightness, the unshak-
able fidelity to the spirit of Justice, and the beneficent and
generous sympathy for the oppressed.
But the feeling of joy evoked by the Declaration is much
more than the legitimate satisfaction aroused by the success-
ful result of our representations to the British Government.
Quite apart from and above all written conventions, we
reahze that the Declaration symbolizes that harmonious
union of spiritual ideals and political considerations which
have made and will make of the Zionist Movement a precious
instrument working for civilization and for the brotherhood
and emancipation of all oppressed peoples and for their final
deliverance from the sad heritage of age-long hatreds and
misunderstandings, which have dismembered them and
subjected them to the forces of oppression.
Three problems confront the world at this hour : the
problem of nationality, the problem of territory, and the
problem of liberty. Nationalities are being reconstituted ;
peoples are seeking one another, joining together, or separ-
ating from one another ; territories are being redistributed ;
the spirit of freedom is spreading, seeking incarnation in
new forms, and giving a new lease of life to ancient peoples.
Everywhere is instabihty, ferment, movement ; from all
sides are heard complaints, demands, claims ; all things are
being recast in new moulds ; everywhere new groupings are
forming round new interests. The world is fighting for the
untrammelled self-expression of nations and races, for an
unaggressive international order ; the hundreds or thousands
of years’ old aspirations, purposes, and aims of nations have
become the demands of the moment and the programmes
for the future. He only would be certain of harvesting
ii8 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
nothing who had not sown during the present world storm.
In this noise, in this welter, in this struggle, ancient Judea
awakes, claiming her right to live again. This right is in-
alienable and unalterable. All the force of the indestructible
Jewish race is in it. All the sadness of the two thousand
years of Jewish martyrdom is in it. Is this right to be denied
because of its being so old ? Humanity, real humanity, will
not extinguish old rights. It has not extinguished it in the
case of Greece ; neither will it extinguish it in the case of
Judea.
History has demonstrated that a nation deprived of its
heritage and Hberty, which is determined to hve and regain
her lost country, no matter how long she suffers, cannot be
exterminated by any conceivable means employed by her
persecutors. And the Jewish people is determined to live
and to work for all that is good and ennobling, believing
firmly that justice would be but a word of mockery if the
sun of hberty could not shine over it again.
In the midst of universal war, amid grief and desolation
which go beyond the most tragic imaginings. Great Britain
has proclaimed the idea of creating a centre of the arts of
peace, and a model of justice. The idea is not only ex-
tremely practical, it is profoundly poetical. We are living
in the most critical time in history. It is our fate to be
spectators of and actors in the greatest drama ever known to
humanity. The present war will take its place in history as
one erf the events which irrevocably divide two epochs. The
Jewish people is fortunate in being able to consider itself
one of the models which have inspired the noble initiative
of Great Britain and her Allies. It is still more fortunate in
having been found worthy of the generous protection of
His Majesty’s Government, manifested in so striking a
manner by the recent Declaration. And what glory awaits,
on the other hand. Great Britain and her Allies, if they will
be instrumental in the creation of a Jewish National Home
m Palestine !
What is it that we wish to preserve in our National Home ?
Our own precious heritage. You all know it. The sacred
Jewish home-Hfe, the intimately personal sentiment of our
quahties and of our inner freedom. That is our heritage
which we have been able to preserve intact during the_
eighteen centuries of our Dispersion, untouched by thi
ambition and hatred which sought to undermine them. Wl
wish to live and to live by our labour and untiring efforts
THE AUTHOR’S STATEMENT 119
We want to be invigorated by that force which the children
of the soil absorb from contact with it. We want to give
form and visibiHty to our mental conceptions. We desire to
perform Israel’s allotted part in the purpose of the eternal
progress of humanity in all branches of life, in all human
activities. The Jewish National Home will stand out in the
world as an inspiring symbol of the triumph of justice over
tyranny, as a proof of the right of nationality to be itself. It
will be a priceless monument to the future at a time when
ruins of the past are everywhere, and the whole world stands
in need of rebuilding.
Our object in establishing the Jewish National Home
on the sacred soil of our fathers is to carry on the noblest
traditions of our race in all their beauty and plenitude.
Judea it was which revealed to humanity the path of pro-
gress, it was Judea which taught the greatest and noblest
lessons in the life of nations — the lessons of Freedom and
Right — and it is Judea which will become a centre of hberty
and a blessing for the nations. Palestine is not to be weighed
down by mihtary powers. She is a home for a small and
free nation, and not for a troop of subjects. The glory of
invaders is to be conquered by humanity. The glory of
tyrants is to yield to civiUzation. The glory of the land of
shadows is to receive the lamp of Hght. The cloud passed
and the star reappeared. And this star is not one of wrath.
Nor is it one of hatred, or fanaticism. Christendom has its
great sanctuaries in Palestine. Islam has there some of
its important sanctuaries. All our glorious holy places are
there. They will be respected and safeguarded with rever-
ence and devotion, in peace and mutual love. But around
the places of worship Ufe will spring — honest, simple, pure
Hfe. We are a peaceful people. We are going to cultivate
the soil ; we are going to cultivate our ideas. Our future is
the ploughshare, and not the sword ; the book, and not the
bullet. The beneficent spiritual influence of a regenerated
Palestine is undoubted ; its future, which is boundless,
belongs to you ; each of you already possesses a portion
within himself. Let us but work together so that our people
may preserve and improve its title to be considered the
conscience of the human race.
We reaUze, however, that our position needs to be
clearly defined. We must be fully conversant with every
side of the problem. Vague complaints or expressions of
yearning are not enough. There is, first of all, the problem
120 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
of Emancipation. We have been accused of endangering
by our aspirations towards a National Home the position of
the Jews in the various countries of the world. We have
racked our brains in trying to discover how the establish-
ment of a National Home in Palestine could possibly harm
the emancipation of Jews in the world. We have failed to
solve this mystery. The British Government in their
Declaration have put to flight this fear, which is a pure fig-
ment of the imagination without foundation in theory or
fact. It would undoubtedly be a great elevation of the
Jewish character in the eyes of the world at large, could the
Jews prove themselves capable of conducting a Common-
wealth harmoniously and successfully ; and we are sure they
will be able to do so. This is our behef, our ambition, our
Jewish optimism. It is because we believe in Israel’s genius
that we are Zionists. This will help emancipation. The
Jews of the various countries who do not wish to participate
actively in the work, who do not desire to take advantage of
the right to settle in Palestine, can remain where they are at
the present time. We are not emigration agents. We are
apostles of a historic ideal, and we want the Jewish people
to help in its realization.
It would be a crime at a stage of Jewish history Hke the
present to paralyse by internal dissension a movement
which may be productive of so much good. This should not
be. Unity of Judaism before all, above all ! The majority
will support the efforts of their fellow- Jews with great en-
thusiasm for Judaism, and those who refuse to take any
part (a type which is doomed to disappear, Hke the mam-
moth, from the face of the earth) must keep the peace. The
least we can demand of them is not to disturb us or hinder
us in our efforts. Where is the Jew who could neglect this
duty which is inspired no less by reason and well-understood
interest than by conscience and honour ? Where is the Jew
who would fail to offer the tribute of his humble share of
effort, of help, and of faith to the old land of Israel, now so
downtrodden, but all the greater and more beautiful, as its
sufferings and trials — so heroically endured — are approach-
ing their end and leading to its renascence which, far from
being a mere satisfaction of national egoism, is an exaltation
of the noblest Jewish and human ideal ?
The attempt has also been made to put forward the
non-Jewish population of Palestine and the neighbouring
countries as an obstacle in our way. The breath of intriguers
THE AUTHOR’S STATEMENT 121
tends to poison every noble aspiration ; they seek to create
among us also a spirit of dissension, a spirit of destruction.
We are firmly resolved to refuse them this satisfaction. In
vain do they raise this kind of bogey. The deep sense of the
realities before us guards us from any error of this kind.
We have work to do which will prevent our interests
from clashing with those of the Arabs. Are we, then,
anti-Semitic ?
The relations between the Jews and the Arabs have
hitherto been scanty and spasmodic, largely owing to
mutual ignorance and indifference. There were no rela-
tions whatever between the two nations as such because
the oppressive bureaucracy did not recognize either of
them, and whenever points of connection began to develop
they were destroyed by intrigue to the detriment of both
nationahties.
We believe that the present hour of crisis and the open-
ing of a large perspective for epoch-making develop-
ments offers a fruitful opportunity for a broad basis of
permanent, cordial relations between the peoples who are
inspired by a common purpose. We mean a real entente
cordiale between the Jews, the Arabs, and the Armenians.
Such entente cordiale has already been accepted in prin-
ciple by leading representatives of these three nations.
From such a beginning we look forward with confidence
to a future of intellectual, social, and economic co-opera-
tion. We are one with the Arabs and Armenians to-day
in the determination to secure for each of us the free
choice of their own destinies. We look with fraternal love
at the creation of an Arab kingdom re-estabhshing the
ancient Semitic nationality in its glory and freedom, and
our heartfelt wishes go out to the noble, hardly-tried
Armenian nationahty for the realization of their national
hopes in their old Armenia.
Our roots were united in the past, our destinies will be
bound together in the future.
This is our declaration to our future neighbours. And
now, one more word to our brethren. We Jews, we who
hoped for a better future, an era in which moral rights would
count, what were we before the present situation ? Dream-
ers and madmen. Material power believed itself unconquer-
able. It produced an atmosphere of indifference in which
all hope seemed Utopian. We slept in the general decadence.
Now we arise, endowed with an unconquerable moral force
122 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
by the Declaration of His Majesty’s Government. Our first
and immortal leader, Theodor Herzl, insisted, many years
ago, in having the institutions of Zionism established in this
great, blessed country, for which every Jew has a warm
corner in his heart. Was he a statesman or a prophet ? I
think he was both a statesman and a prophet. There is an
old Talmudical saying : —
Q) : ID D^noQ
Twenty years ago 220 Jews from aU the countries of the
world met at the First Zionist Congress at Basle. They
possessed, though everything else was wanting, that wonder-
ful power of improvising things. And such was the power
of right these 220 men, having nothing to support them
but the goodness of their cause, made headway against
millions of opponents among their people. During the long
duration of the struggle, a struggle without truce, where all
the strength and rage was on one side and all the right on
the other, not a single section of those 220 men failed to
respond to the call of duty, and, although divided in their
views, not one section drew back from the fundamental
national idea, not one gave way. They increased in numbers
and they increased in activity. Let me, at this solemn hour,
render honour to those men, to that insulted, calumniated
and misunderstood Zionist Organization which always
stepped gallantly into the breach, which never took rest for
a single day, and which defended Zionism even when aban-
doned and momentarily hopeless, and that not only with
tongue and brains, but also with heavy sacrifices. Thanks
t* them we exist, and thanks to the progress we made here
new life and new energy will enter not only into our Zionist
Organization, but into the whole Jewish people. Mr. Balfour
has sent the Declaration to Lord Rothschild for the Zionist
Organization. We received and accepted it joyfully ; but,
I am afraid — or I am rather glad — that we shall have
to re-address it to the Jewish people, and I hope they
will receive and accept it as joyfully as ourselves, the
Zionists. This is perhaps the greatest achievement of
the British Government that before having given us
Palestine they already gave us something which is very
precious and very necessary — Jewish unity. History will
^ ” Leave Israel alone ! — If they are not Prophets, they are the sons of
Prophets.” — Pesachim, 66a.
THE AUTHOR’S STATEMENT 123
record that Mr. Balfour was the greatest peace-maker
among the Jewish people, greater than many Rabbis and
Conjoint Committees.
We were divided, distracted ; and now we are indis-
solubly united, all one band of brothers in arms for Liberty !
I welcome the representatives of the Jewish Territorial
Organization, with their famous leader, Israel Zangwill. I
welcome the oldest Jewish organization of this country, the
Board of Deputies, and all other organizations which are
represented at this meeting. The opponents of yesterday
are our allies of to-day, and the opponents of to-day will be
our alHes of to-morrow, if they will read the signs of the time.
Much is still to be done in this direction, but much has
already been done. Yes ; this is the miracle which has
brought about our spiritual rebirth.
What does this mean if not that wrong has always feet
of clay : that right, truth and liberty are from this time
forward the true paths of the earth, the only ways which no
physical force will ever dishonour ?
Friends, brothers, our new society makes of you new
men. This is a day of alUance and of reconciHation. Old
words — Virtue, Love, Liberty — which had lost their bright-
ness by long disuse have regained their lustre as on the day
when they were first engraved on the heart of man. Awake
from the long night. It is a new dawn which arises. The
Jewish people which has endured, and will still endure, with
great firmness of heart the heaviest sacrifices, rising to the
heights of the great arguments of this War of Nationahties,
affirms that it is ready and determined to work with all its
power and full loyalty for Governments and peoples until
the reaUzation of its destiny. May this destiny be one in
which Liberty will triumph — one from which man and
humanity, the individual and the Nation, will derive benefit,
one bringing to the Jewish people as to every oppressed
people the possibihty of living and of realizing its ideal. It
is in this spirit that the Zionist Organimtion recommends to
you the resolution.
On the 14th of December the Zionist representatives, Lord
Rothschild, Mr. James de Rothschild, Dr. E. W. Tschlenow,
Dr. Chaim Weizmann, and the Author, were received by the
War Cabinet. They offered to the British Government the
gratitude of the Jewish people for the Declaration of the
2nd November and at the same time expressed their con-
gratulations on the occasion of the capture of Jerusalem.
124 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Mr. Bonar Law, who replied to the deputation on behalf
of His Majesty’s Government, thanked them for the kind
sentiments they had expressed.
The following Manifesto was issued shortly after the
British Declaration : —
To THE Jewish People.
The 17th of Marcheshvan, 5678 (2nd November, 1917), is
an important milestone on the road to our national future ;
it marks the end of an epoch, and it opens out the beginning
of a new era. The Jewish people has but one other such day
in its annals : the 28th August, 1897, the birthday of the
New Zionist Organization at the first Basle Congress. But
the analogy is incomplete, because the period which then
began was Expectation, whereas the period which now
begins is Fulfilment.
From then till now, for over twenty years, the Jewish
people has been trying to find itself, to achieve a national
resurrection. The advance-guard was the organized Zionist
party, which in 1897 by its programme demanded a home
for the Jewish people in Palestine secured by pubUc law. A
great deal was written, spoken, and done to get this demand
recognized. The work was carried out by the Zionist Organ-
ization on a much greater scale and in a more systematic
manner than had been possible for the Choveve Zion,
the first heralds of the national ideal, who had tried to give
practical shape to the yearning which had burnt like a light
in the Jewish spirit during two thousand years of exile and
had flamed out at various periods in various forms. The
Choveve Zion had the greatest share in the practical colon-
ization. The Zionist movement wrestled with its opponents
and with itself. It collected means outside Palestine, and
laboured with all its strength in Palestine. It founded
institutions of all kinds for colonization in Palestine. That
was a preface, full of hope and faith, full of experiments and
illusions, inspired by a sacred and elevating ideal, and pro-
ductive of many valuable and enduring results.
The time has come to cast the balance of the account.
That chapter of propaganda and experiments is complete,
and the glory of immortahty rests upon it. But we must go
further. To look back is the function of the historian ;
life looks forwards.
The turning-point is the Declaration of the British
A MANIFESTO 125
Government that they ‘* view with favour the estabHshment
in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people,
and will use their best endeavours to facihtate the achieve-
ment of this object.”
The progress which our idea has made is so colossal and
so obvious that it is scarcely necessary to describe it in words.
None the less, a few words must be addressed to the Jewish
people, not so much by way of explanation, as to demand
the new and greater efforts which are imperative.
The outstanding feature of the Declaration is, that what
has been a beautiful ideal — and according to our opponents
an empty dream — ^has now been given the possibihty of
becoming a reahty. The aspirations of 1897 now find solid
ground in the British Government’s official Declaration of
the 2nd November, 1917. That in itself is a gigantic step
forward. The world’s history, and particularly Jewish
history, will not fail to inscribe in golden letters upon its
bronze tablets that Great Britain, the shield of civilization,
the country which is pre-eminent in colonization, the school
of constitutionalism and freedom, has given us an official
promise of support and help in the realization of our ideal of
liberty in Palestine. And Great Britain will certainly carry
with her the whole poHtical world.
The Declaration of His Majesty’s Government coincides
with the triumphant march of the British Army in Palestine.
The flag of Great Britain waves over Jerusalem and all
Judea. It is at such a moment, while the army of Great
Brijtain is taking possession of Palestine, that Mr. Balfour
assures us that Great Britain will help us in the establish-
ment of a National Home in Palestine. This is the begin-
ning of the fulfilment.
To appreciate and to understand accurately is the first
essential, but it is not all. It is necessary to go further, to
determine what is the next step. This must be set forth in
plain words.
The Declaration puts in the hands of the Jewish people
the key to a new freedom and happiness. All depends on
you, the Jewish people, and on you only. The Declaration
is the threshold, from which you can place your foot upon
holy ground. After eighteen hundred years of suffering
your recompense is offered to you. You can come to your
haven and your heritage, you can show that the noble blood
of our race is still fresh in your veins. But to do that you
must begin work anew, with new power and with new means
126 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
— the ideas and the phrases and the methods ^f the first
period no longer suffice. That would be an anachronism.
We need new conceptions, new words, new acts. The
methods of the period of reaUzation cannot be the methods
of the time of expectation.
In the first place, the whole Jewish people must now
unite. Now that fulfilment is displacing expectation, that
which was potential in the will of the Jewish people must
become actual and reveal itself in strenuous labour. The
whole Jewish people must come into the Zionist Organ-
ization.
Secondly, a word to our brothers in Palestine. The
moment has come to lay the foundations of a national home.
You are now under the protection of the British mihtary
authorities, who will guard your lives, your property, your
freedom. Be worthy of that protection, and begin immedi-
ately to build the Jewish National Home upon sound
foundations, thoroughly Hebrew, thoroughly national,
thoroughly free and democratic. The beginning may decide
all that follows.
Thirdly, our loyal acknowledgment of the support of
Great Britain must be spontaneous and unmeasured. But
it must be the acknowledgment of free men to a country
which breeds and loves free men. We must show that what
Great Britain has given us through her generosity, is ours
by virtue of our intelligence, skill, and courage.
Fourthly, we must have ample means. The means of
yesterday are ridiculously small compared with the needs
of to-day. Propaganda, the study of practical problems,
expeditions, the founding of new offices and commissions,
negotiations, preparations for settlement, relief and re-
construction in Palestine — for all these, and other indis-
pensable tasks, colossal material means are necessary, and
necessary forthwith. Small and great, poor and rich, must
rise to answer the call of this hour with the necessary
personal sacrifice.
Fifthly, we need discipHne and unity. This is no time for
hair-splitting /controversy. It is a time for action. We ask
for confidence. Be united and tenacious, be quick but not
impatient, be free men, but well-discipUned, firm as steel.
From now onwards every gathering of Jews must have a
practical aim, every speech must deal with a project, every
thought must be a brick with which to build the National
Home.
DECLARATION OF FRENCH GOVERNMENT 127
These are the directions for your work to-day.
Worn and weary through your two thousand years of
wandering over desert and ocean, driven by every storm
and carried on every wave, outcasts and refugees, you may
now pass from the misery of exile to a secure home ; a home
where the Jewish spirit and the old Hebrew genius, which so
long have hovered broken-winged over strange nests, can
also find heahng and be quickened into new life.
M. SOKOLOW.
E. W. TSCHLENOW.
Ch. Weizmann.
declarations of the entente governments
After this most important achievement which is considered
as the foundation-stone of future policy in and regarding
Palestine, it was found necessary to come into closer
pohtical relations with the other Entente countries, in the
light of the new situation created by the British Declar-
ation.
Negotiations were carried on with the proper authorities
in the French and Italian Governments : the negotia-
tions were crowned with success, and the official endorse-
ments by France and Italy of the British Declaration were
communicated to the world in the following official docu-
ments : —
The follo\ving is the text of the French Government’s
Declaration communicated in a letter to the author : —
RepubUque fran^aise.
Ministere des Affaires £trangeres :
Direction des Affaires PoHtiques et Commercials.
Paris, le i^mefevrier, 1918.
Monsieur,
Comme il a ete convenu au cours de notre entretien
le Samedi 9 de ce mois, le Gouvernement de la Repubhque,
en vue de preciser son attitude vis-a-vis des aspirations
sionistes, tendant a creer pour les juifs en Palestine un foyer
national, a public un communique dans la presse.
En vous communiquant ce texte, je saisis avec empresse-
ment Toccasion de vous feliciter du genereux devouement
avec lequel vous poursuiviez la reahsation des voeux de vos
co-religionnaires, et de vous remercier du zele que vous
apportez k leur faire connaitre les sentiments de sympathie
128 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
que leurs efforts eveillent dans les pays de rentente et
notamment en France.
Veuillez agreer, Monsieur, I’assurance de ma considera-
(Signed) Pichon.
M. “SOKOLOW,
Hotel Meurice, Paris.
Le Communique.
Monsieur Sokolow, representant des Organisations Sion-
istes, a ete re9u ce matin au Ministere des Affaires
Etrangeres par Monsieur Stephen Pichon, qui a ete heureux
de lui confirmer que I’Entente est complete entre les
Gouvernements frangais et britannique en ce qui conceme
la question d’un etablissement juif en Palestine.”
[Translation.]
Republique frangaise.
Ministere des Affaires fitrangeres :
Direction des Affaires Politiques et Commerciales.
^ Paris, i^th February, 1918.
As arranged at our meeting on Saturday, the 9th of
this month, the Government of the Republic, so as to make
definite its views on the subject of Zionist aspirations with
regard to the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine,
has sent a communication to the Press.
In sending you this text, I wish to take the opportunity
of congratulating you on the splendid devotion with which
you are furthering the aspirations of your co-religionists,
and of thanking you for the way in which you have made
known to them the sympathy with which all the countries of
the Entente, and especially France, are watching their efforts.
Please accept assurances of my most cordial sympathy.
{Signed) Pichon.
M. Sokolow,
Hotel Meurice, Paris.
Mr. Sokolow, representing the Zionist Organizations, was
this morning received by Mons. Pichon, Minister for Foreign
Affairs, who was happy to inform him that there is complete
agreement between the French and British Governments
in all matters which concern the estabhshment of a Jewish
national home in Palestine.
A. F. J. RiBOT
Jules M. Cambon
Henri Manuel, Paris
Baron Sidney Sonnino
S. J. M. PiCHON
Henri Manuel, Paris
G. E. B. Clemenceau
Henii Manuel, Paris
4
DECLARATION OF ITALIAN GOVERNMENT 129
The following is the Declaration which was made by the
Italian Government to myself as representative of the
Zionist Organization, through the ItaUan Ambassador in
^^^^on:- LONDRA,
li 9 Maggio, 1918.
Pregiatissimo Signore,
D’ordine di Sua Eccellenza il Barone Sonnino,
Ministro per gh Affari Estri del Re, ho Tonore d’informarla
che, in relazione alle domande che gli sono state rivolti, il
Governo di Sua Maest^ e lieto di confermare le precedenti
dichiarazioni gia fatte a mezzo dei suoi rappresentanti a
Washington, I’Aja e Salonicco, di essere cioe disposto ad
adoperarsi con piacere per facilitare lo stabihrsi in Palestina
di un centro nazionale ebraico, nell’ intesa pero che non ne
venga nessun pregiudizio alio stato giuridico e politico delle
gja esistenti comunita* religiose ed ai diritti civili e pohtici
che gl’ IsraeUti gia godono in ogni altro paese.
Gradisca, Pregiatissimo Signore, gli atti della mia Distin-
tissima considerazione. ,^. ,. -r-
(Signed) Imperiali.
I Signor Nahum Sokolow,
^B 35-3S Empire House,
^B^ 175 Piccadilly, W. i.
^H^^ [Translation.]
mff Italian Embassy, London,
Imv DEAR Sir, 9th May. xgiS.
On the instructions of His Excellency, Baron Sonnino,
, His Majesty’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, I have the honour
to inform you that v^ith reference to your representations
I His Majesty’s Government are pleased to confirm the
j Declaration already made through their representatives in
j Washington, The Hague, and Salonica, to the effect that
‘ they will use their best endeavours to facihtate the estabUsh-
ment in Palestme of a Jewish National Centre, it being
i understood that this shall not prejudice the civil and religious
I rights of existing non- Jewish communities in Palestine or
the legal or poUtical status enjoyed by Jews in any other
country.
Pray accept, my dear sir, the assurance of my distinguished
consideration. -^. ,, ^
(Signed) Imperiali.
M. Nahum Sokolow,
i75Piccadilly, \V. I.
130 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
In President’s Wilson’s address to Congress of January 8th,
1918, a speech commonly regarded as a complete statement
of the objects for which the Allied Powers were fighting, the
twelfth of the articles in the programme of the world’s peace
was stated thus : —
” The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire
should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nation-
alities which are now under Turkish rule should he assured an
undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested
opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles
should be permanently opened as a free passage to ships
and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.”
This statement was regarded by Zionists as signifying
the sympathetic attitude of the American Government, and
especially of its President, to the Zionist movement. Presi-
dent Wilson is regarded as the spokesman of the Entente
principles, and it is well known to Zionists that his attitude
is favourable to the realization of Zionist aims, because the
latter are in complete harmony with the principle of justice
to small nationalities, of which President Wilson is the
clearest and most outspoken exponent. His address makes
no specific reference to the Jewish question or to Palestine,
but his intention is perfectly clear.
In August, 1918, President Wilson wrote the following
letter :—
” I have watched with deep and sincere interest the re-
constructive work which the Weizmann Commission has
done in Palestine at the instance of the British Government,
and I welcome an opportunity to express the satisfaction I
have felt in the progress of the Zionist Movement in the
United States and in the Allied countries since the Declara-
tion by Mr. Balfour on behalf of the British Government of
Great Britain’s approval of the establishment in. Palestine
of a National Home for the Jewish people, and his promise
that the British Government would use its best endeavours
to facilitate the achievement of that object, with the under-
standing that nothing would be done to prejudice the civil
and religious rights of non- Jewish people in Palestine or the
rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in other countries.
I think that all Americans will be deeply moved by the
report that even in this time of stress the Weizmann Com-
mission has been able to lay the foundation of the Hebrew
Ih>:-er S licet Studios
President
Thomas Wooduow Wilson
THE RT. HON. D. LLOYD GEORGE 131
University at Jerusalem with the promise that that bears of
spiritual rebirth.”
Public opinion in America regarded this letter as a
precious document embodying full American support of
the Zionist aims, in harmony with the British Declaration.
Many opportunities have been taken by British statesmen
to refer to the British Declaration in terms which show that
they attach the very greatest value to it. Thus, the Rt
Hon. George N. Barnes said, in a speech delivered on the
14th of July, a full extract of which appears below : —
” The British Government proclaimed its policy of
Zionism because it believed that Zionism was identified
with the policy and aims for which good men and women
are struggling everywhere. That policy is the policy of the
Allies in the war. It is the policy to which we are pledged ;
it is the policy which we believe accords with the wishes of
vast numbers of the Jewish people, many of whom have
cast wistful eyes to Palestine as again destined to be their
national home.”
Lord Robert Cecil, in regretting his inability to be present
at the meeting held on July 14th to welcome the American
Zionist Medical Unit, wrote : —
** The Zionist movement represents a great ideal which
may have incalculable consequences for the future welfare
of the world.”
The Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour, in his address to a
deputation of the Medical Unit (given in full further on),
said : —
‘* The destruction of Judea that occurred nineteen cen-
turies ago is one of the great wrongs which the Allied
Powers are trying to redress.”
Mr. Lloyd George wrote to the Author, on the 29th of June,
in connection with the Government declaration safeguarding
the rights of the Roumanian Jews : —
Dear Sir,
I am desired by the Prime Minister to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of the 21st inst., and the enclosure.
Mr. Lloyd George wishes me to thank you for what you
say in regard to the friendship which exists between this
country and the Jewish people, of which there has lately
been such abundant evidence, and to reiterate the hope
132 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
that the triumph of the AlHes’ cause will make possible
the realization of your people’s aim to establish for them-
selves once again a national home in Palestine.
Yours faithfully,
(Signed) F. L. Stevenson.
N. SoKOLOw, Esq.
On Wednesday, September nth, the Prime Minister,
Mr. Lloyd George, visited Manchester for the purpose of
receiving the freedom of that city and of other towns. The
Zionists took the opportunity of presenting to him the
following address :–
” The undersigned representatives of the Jewish Com-
munity of Manchester, headed by our distinguished Zionist
leader, Mr. Nahum Sokolow, gladly avail ourselves of the
opportunity of your visit to Manchester to place on record
the gratitude which the Jewish people feels for the interest
shown by the Government, of which you are the head, in the
fulfilment of Jewish national aspirations.
” We are confident that the Government’s historic
declaration of 2nd November, 1917, expresses not only its
own considered policy at the present time, but the permanent
attitude of the British nation to our people. We look forward
to the early fruition of the hopes which we build on that
declaration, and we know that in the brighter days of peace
the restored and revived Hebrew nation will show in practical
form its regard for Great Britain and for the British tradi-
tion of help and justice to small nations. For the sake of the
Jewish nation and of the cause of the free peoples throughout
the world, struggling to escape from the pitiless desire for
conquest of the German people, who have been intoxicated
with the belief that their army can override all obstacles and
all rights, we trust that Great Britain and her Allies will,
at an early date, see the downfall of the German power as an
indispensable preliminary to the commencement of the new
era of peace and justice, foretold by our national prophets
and seers in that great Jewish Bible which has become part
of the patrimony of the peoples of this great Empire.
” We venture to think that among the many triumphs
which it will be your privilege to recall in after days you will
remember, with, perhaps, a unique pride and pleasure, that
it was under the guidance of your statesmanship that Great
Britain extended its right hand in friendship to the Jewish
Vandyke^ plioto.\
R*’ Hon, David Lloyd George
THE AMERICAN MEDICAL UNIT 133
people to help it to regain its ancient national home and to
realize its age-long aspirations/’
The Zionists’ address was signed by Mr. E. H. Langdon,
the Rahhi Dr. Berendt Salomon, Mr. Nathan Laski, j.p.,
Mr. S. J. Cohen, Councillor S. Finburgh, Mr. L. Friedson,
Captain Dulberg, and Mr. Simon Marks.
Mr. Lloyd George gave the following reply : —
“It is with feelings of the greatest satisfaction that
I accept the address which you have done me the privilege
of presenting to me. The aspirations which you share with
multitudes of your race scattered throughout the world
found a natural response in the minds of those responsible
for the government of this country, because they are in
permanent accord with the sentiments of the people of
Great Britain. I have to-day had the honour of receiving
addresses from the representatives of three elements most
intimately concerned in the establishment of a rule of order
and justice in an area which has hitherto been the prey of
tyranny and outrage. The fulfilment of the historic hopes
and aspirations to which you refer in your address is, I
beheve, an essential corollary to the necessary enfranchise-
ment of the oppressed peoples of the Near East.”
Considerable interest was taken everywhere in the
evidences of the effect produced in America by the
political success of the Zionist movement. The Zionists
of America, unable to participate in many of the Zionist
activities of the day, owing to the fact that America was
not at war with Turkey, conceived the idea of helping
in the reconstruction and extension of the Jewish colonies
after they were reheved from disasters due to the war, by
sending a Medical Unit to the Holy Land.
The Unit was organized by and at the expense of American
Zionists, the principal promoters being a group of women
Zionists who are banded together under the name of the
Hadassah, It consisted of about forty-five persons — doctors,
nurses, mechanics, chemists, specialists, secretaries, dentists,
a social expert, an administrator, and a representative of
the Hadassah. The Provisional Executive Committee for
General Zionist Affairs in America voted a sum of fifty
thousand pounds from their Palestine Restoration Fund
for its equipment. The plans in Palestine will necessarily
depend upon the conditions prevailing in that country at
134 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
the time of the arrival of the Unit, but the present inten-
tion is to set up a central hospital of one hundred beds
in Jerusalem, a branch hospital in Jaffa, as well as dis-
pensaries and a nursing school, and several travelling hos-
pitals, which will be equipped for service in the colonies
and wherever needed and will be supplied from permanent
dispensaries in the large cities. A hospital in Jerusalem,
originally owned by a German society, the L’maan Zion,
was handed over to this Unit, as well as the Shaare Zedek
Hospital. In connexion with the equipment of these ” Red
Cross ‘* ambulances for the reUef of civilians, the Hadassah
collected quantities of clothes, bed-linen and towels, as well
as m
. In connexion with the equipment of these ” Red
Cross ‘* ambulances for the reUef of civilians, the Hadassah
collected quantities of clothes, bed-linen and towels, as well
as medical stores for the use of the destitute of Palestine.
Eighty-six cases, containing twenty-four thousand garments,
one thousand pairs of boots, thirteen thousand men’s socks,
and two tons of soap, have been sent out. Mrs. Mary Fels
contributed largely to this stock.
The Unit is under the general control of Mr. Levin
Epstein, Treasurer of the American Zionist Organization.
On its way to Palestine the Unit passed through
London, where it was welcomed by a great meeting at the
London Opera House, on July 14th. The Right Hon.
George N. Barnes, a member of the War Cabinet, in a speech
then delivered, said : —
‘* Palestine has for three hundred years been under the
tyranny of Ottoman oppression, and I take it that it is now
ready for the word of the teacher, and the knowledge of the
scientist, to make the desert places again into smiling
villages. Our visitors will take part in that transformation.
They will Hnk together the knowledge, the science, and
material resources of the present and the future. It is a
great thought and a happy augury that the first definite act
of Zionism is to go East and to take part in the reahzation
of a great ideal for the uplifting of all the people, irrespective
of class or creed, or condition of any kind whatsoever. That
is indeed a great ideal, and I congratulate our visitors in
being pioneers in its achievement. They are going to help
to lay in Palestine that basis of sanitation and conditions of
healthy Ufe which are the chief foundations of civiUzation.
It is a work not only of interest to the Jewish race ; it is a
work which is of interest and value to the whole world,
because the prosperity of Palestine is the concern of us all.
Irrespective of race or religion, we look to Palestine as the
Holy Land. From it there came those great moral inspira-
THE AMERICAN MEDICAL UNIT 135
tions which still guide the life and conduct of half the world.
From it there issued forth those wondrous influences of
which the mind of man can scarcely yet conceive the full
meaning. It has been the inestimable privilege of the Allies
in this war to have rescued this land, consecrated by religion
and history, from the sacrilegious hands of the German and
the Turk, who have slain and enslaved the people. It will
be their greater privilege to rebuild the holy places, to
create conditions under which opportunities will be given
to all peoples to live together in tolerance and mutual help.
It will be the aim of Zionism once more to make Palestine a
fountain of knowledge and idealism, and by the creating of
places of knowledge and education, open to all, again to
clothe ancient truths in modern garb. The British Govern-
ment proclaimed its policy of Zionism because it believed
that Zionism was identified with the policy and aims for
which good men and women are struggling everywhere.
That policy is the policy of the Allies in this war.
It is the policy to which we are pledged ; it is the policy
which we believe accords with the wishes of vast numbers of
the Jewish people, many of whom have cast wistful eyes to
Palestine as again destined to be their national home. Using
the word in its largest and best sense, they are going on an
errand of mercy, being the harbingers of health and happi-
ness to a people who have been long oppressed and heavy
laden. They have, I doubt not, many difficulties in front of
them — perhaps a long road to travel, but I feel sure they will
be borne up by the consciousness of what they are doing, and
that they have the good wishes of all good men and women.”
In addressing the Unit in Paris, M. Tardieu, High Com-
missioner of the Government of the French Republic in the
United States, said : —
*’ Vous savez avec quel interet sympathique le gouverne-
ment fran^ais a suivi le progres de Tideal sioniste. De cet
interet, le gouvernement frangais a donne des preuves des
le printemps de 1916, aussitot que Tamelioration de la
situation en Palestine nous a permis de regarder du cote de
I’avenir. J’ai a peine besoin, ensuite, de vous rappeler la
declaration publique et officielle que le Ministre des Affaires
Etrangeres, M. Pichon, publiait si heureusement I’annee
derniere. S’il existe une nation naturellement faite pour
comprendre la cause des Juifs et I’ideal juif, cela a et^
assurement toujours la nation frangaise.”
136 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Shortly before they left England the American Zionist
Medical Unit were received by Mr. Balfour, who said he
was very happy to be able to address the deputation of the
Unit on their way to Palestine, where they were going to
contribute their share to the beginnings of a great National
undertaking. The far-reaching importance of the idea
represented by Zionism was not sufficiently understood ;
the influence of that great National revival would be
felt not only by those Jews who would settle in
Palestine, but also by Jewry in every country of the
world, and even by the other nations of humanity, for
though Palestine was but a small country, the good
which it had done for mankind was immeasurable. The
destruction of Judea nineteen centuries ago was one of the
great wrongs which the Allied Powers were trying to redress.
This destruction was a national tragedy. It deprived the
Jews of the opportunities enjoyed by other nations,
to develop their national genius and their own spirit to the
full extent of which it was capable. The Jews occupied a
unique position among nations of the present day, because
they lacked that element of nationahty which appeared to
be indispensable to a complete National Hfe — ^to the
possession of a National Home. The present moment
witnessed the entrance on the world’s stage of great
and important National factors, and he felt sure that
among these the Zionist idea, which had already accom-
pUshed so much in Palestine, would play a noble and
beneficial part. He congratulated the members of the Unit
on their great humanitarian mission. He knew they were
moved by a high idea and not by any self-seeking.
Nothing, he said, could be accompHshed in this world except
under the inspiration of a great ideal. He wished them God-
speed and complete success.
Direct evidence of the spread of Zionism in America was
furnished by a resolution of the American Jewish Com-
mittee, a body which has hitherto been held to represent
the assimilated American Jews and to be hostile to Jewish
nationalism, at a special meeting held on Sunday, April
28th, which was attended by, among others, Mr. Jacob
Schiff, Mr. Louis Marshall, Dr. Cyrus Adler, ex- Judge
Mack, and ex- Judge Sulzberger.
The Committee declared by the resolution that it could
not be unmindful of the fact that there are Jews everywhere
throughout the world who, moved by traditional Jewish
THE RUMANIAN JEWS 137
sentiment, yearn for a Home in the Holy Land for the Jewish
people. This hope, which has been nurtured for centuries,
had the Committee’s whole-hearted sympathy. When
therefore, the British Government made the Declaration
which is now supported by the French Government, that it
views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a
National Home for the Jewish People, and will use its best
endeavours to facihtate the achievement of this object, the
announcement was received by the members of the Com-
mittee with profound appreciation.
The Committee regards as of essential importance the
conditions annexed to the Declaration, ” that nothing
shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
rights of existing non- Jewish communities in Palestine
or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any
other country.” The latter of these conditions corresponded
entirely with the general principles on the basis of which the
Committee had ever striven to attain civil and political
rights for Jews the world over, and with the ideals of all
American Jewry.
The opportunity foreshadowed by Mr. Balfour’s letter was
welcomed by the Committee, which would help to the best
of its power to realise in Palestine, placed under such pro-
tectorate or suzerainty as the Peace Congress may determine,
the objects set forth in the Declaration ; and the Committee
resolved to co-operate with all those who, attracted by
religious or historic associations, shall seek to establish in
Palestine a centre for Judaism for the stimulating of our
faith, the pursuit and development of hterature, science,
and art in a Jewish environment, and the rehabilitation of
the Land.
The British and Italian Governments indicated to the
Zionist Organization their interest in the welfare of the
Jewish people by the opinion they expressed with regard to
the clause in the Rumanian-German Treaty referring to
Jewish rights. Ever since the Treaty of Berlin, the position
of the Rumanian Jews had been one of the scandals of
Europe. That Treaty forbade all legal discriminations on
account of religious faith. This clause was made a useless
” scrap of paper ” by Rumania considering its Jews ” aliens
not subject to alien protection.” The Jew has been pre-
vented from living in country districts or owning land out-
side towns. This does not prevent it from being a standing
accusation against the Jews of Rumania that they do not
138 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
work as agricultural labourers. They have been excluded
from the civil service and the Uberal professions ; they have
been disfranchised ; factories and mills were forbidden to
employ more Jewish workers than one quarter of their
entire staff. Yet the Jews in Rumania by no means gave
rise to this state of affairs by obvious separatism ; the
younger generation all spoke Rumanian, both at home and
in intercourse with the outer world, and they wore no
distinctive dress.
It should be stated that the Rumanians are a peasant
people ; the landowners, all Christians, are largely an
absentee class, spending their money in Western Europe.
Anti-Semitism has been a convenient safety-valve for
diverting the discontent of the peasants from the real
authors of their misery.
These anti- Jewish laws have caused an immense exodus
of Jews from Rumania.
Rumania continued its anti- Jewish policy during the war.
Rumanian Jews were registered and supervised as aliens,
because, owing to defective registration, they could not
prove that they were born in Rumania. Many elderly
persons were born in places where no registers were kept.
There were no registers before 1866, and it was only in 1880
that the whole country began to keep such registers. This
brings us directly to the Jewish clause of the treaty with
Germany. The German Government had led the Jews in
Germany to beheve that it would protect the rights of Jews
in the treaty. But the treaty merely stated that those Jews
hitherto considered aliens were to be naturahzed by law if
they could prove that they and their parents were born in
Rumania, or that they had taken part in the war, either in
active service or in army service (Hilfsdienst) . Such a
clause could only open the way to further equivocations.
By the addition of this clause to the general statement that
differences of reUgious faith shall have no influence on the
legal rights of inhabitants, and in particular on their political
and civil rights, the treaty of 19 18 actually went back from
the position taken by the treaty of 1878. It is not even
found possible to make the officers of a regiment in Rumania
give a Jewish soldier the paper necessary to prove that he
has served in the army.
The letters to the Author, in which the two Entente
Powers (England and Italy) expressed their desire to rectify
this unjust state of affairs, are as follows : —
THE RUMANIAN JEWS 139
Foreign Office,
Sir, /^^^^ 15^^. 1918.
In reply to your letter of the 3rd instant, relative to
the question of Jewish rights in Rumania, I am directed
by Mr. Secretary Balfour to state that His Majesty’s Govern-
ment fully realize that the enfranchisement promised to the
Jews in Rumania under the recent treaty is less liberal than
that by which the former Rumanian Government had
publicly pledged themselves. They take this opportunity
of assuring your Organization that they are most anxious
to do everything in their power to secure a just and per-
manent settlement of the Jewish question in that country.
I am. Sir,
Your most obedient, humble Servant,
N. SOKOLOW, Esq., ^^’Sned) W. Langley.
35 Empire House,
175 Piccadilly, W. i.
The Italian Ambassador, the Marquis ImperiaH, honoured
me with a communication to a like effect, of which the
following is a translation : —
London,
Dear Sir, August 2nd, 1918.
On the instructions of His Excellency, Baron
Sonnino, I have pleasure in communicating to you the
following :
” The Italian Government recognizing that the provision
contained in the Treaty of Bucharest of May 7th, 1918,
between Rumania and the Central Empires, relating to
religious equahty in Rumania, are, so far as the Jews are
concerned, less liberal than those which the Rumanian
Government itself had spontaneously promised to grant,
now declares that at the final settlement of the Rumanian
question, it will use its best endeavours to secure for the
Jews in Rumania a settlement which will definitely assure
them of a permanent position of equality.’*
Accept, dear Sir, the expression of my most distinguished
consideration. ,^. ^ ^
(Signed) Imperial!.
N. SoKOLOw, Esq.
One of the first practical results of the British Govern-
ment’s declaration was the appointment in March, 1918, of a
Zionist Commission for Palestine.
140 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
The objects and status of the Commission were laid down
as follows : —
The Commission should represent the Zionist Organiza-
tion.
It should act as an advisory body to the British
authorities in Palestine in all matters relating to Jews,
or which may affect the establishment of a national
home for the Jewish people in accordance with the Declara-
tion of His Majesty’s Government.
The objects of the Commission were : —
1. To form a link between the British authorities and the
Jewish population of Palestine.
2. To co-ordinate the relief work in Palestine and to assist
in the repatriation of exiled and evacuated persons and refugees.
3. To assist in restoring and developing the Colonies and
in organizing the Jewish population in general.
4. To assist the Jewish organization and institutions in
Palestine in the resumption of their activities.
5. To help in establishing friendly relations with the Arabs
and other non- Jewish communities.
6. To collect information, and report upon the possibilities
of the further development of the Jewish settlement and of the
country in general.
7. To inquire into the feasibility of the scheme of establishing
a Jewish University.
In order to be able to achieve the foregoing objects the
Commission obtained permission, subject to military neces-
sities, to travel, investigate, and make reports upon the
above-mentioned matters.
The Commission left London on March 8th. It con-
sisted of : —
Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the Chairman of the Commission ;
Mr. Joseph Co wen, Director of the Anglo-Palestine Com-
pany ; Dr. Eder, Medical Adviser, Representative of the
Jewish Territorial Association ; Mr. Leon Simon, selected
to be Chairman of the Relief Committee of the Commission ;
and Professor Sylvain L6vi, College de France. Mr. Israel M.
Sieff, of Manchester, acted as Secretary to the Commission.
Two representatives of Italian Jewry joined the Com-
mission after an interval of some time — Commendatore
Bianchini and Dr. Artom.
The Commission was accompanied by the following
THE PALESTINE COMMISSION 141
gentlemen : Mr. Aaron Aaronsohn, Agricultural Expert,
formerly of the Jewish Colony of Zichron Jacob ; Mr. David
Levontin, Manager of the Jaffa branch of the Anglo-Pales-
tine Bank ; Mr. Rosenack, Agent of the Jewish Coloniza-
tion Association, and Mr. Walter Meyer of New York.
Major the Hon. W. Ormsby-Gore acted as Political
Officer and communicated the Commission’s views and
requirements to the Government and the military authori-
ties.
It had been intended that representatives of the Jews of
Russia should join the Commission, but the disorganization
of communications in Russia caused by the revolution pre-
vented them from doing so until about October, 1918, when
Mr. Isaac Goldberg and Mr. Israel Rosoff started for Pales-
tine.
A few isolated incidents alone can be referred to here out
of a large amount of work which was done by the Com-
missioners. They succeeded in obliterating the ill effects of
warfare, they restored refugees to their homes, restarted
the normal course of peaceful activities, reorganized the
hitherto unsatisfactory and disunited Jerusalem com-
munities belonging to the old settlements of pre-Zionist
times and pre-Zionist feelings, and extended the Hebrew
system of schools.
The Commission started part of its work in Egypt before
it reached Palestine. The Arabs had been given wrong
ideas concerning the meaning of the British declaration and
the intention of the Zionists : pro -German agents had
spread rumours intended to be both anti-English and anti-
Jewish. They declared that rich Jews would exploit the
land of Palestine and would destroy Moslem holy places.
Dr. Weizmann met certain Arab leaders in Egypt and
succeeded in removing their fears and anxieties. It was
found that the Felaheen cultivators in Palestine do not fear
the Jews. They realize that the Jewish colonies increase
the prosperity of the country by introducing improved
agricultural methods. But the Effendi Arabs, who are
landlords, fear the establishment of a just rule over the
land. These Effendi are largely cosmopolitans and absentee
landlords, living in Syria and Egypt. The Zionists are
anxious to prevent, if they can, any speculation in land,
whether by natives of Palestine or by foreigners. The
prosperity of the colonies is bound up with a just land
policy, which will prevent the fruits of a man’s labour
142 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
enriching others and will place at the disposal of the Jewish
colonies unused and State lands as well as badly cultivated
large estates.
The Zionists have been fortunate in gaining the confi-
dence of the King of the Hedjaz and of Prince Feisal.
Although by the Hague Convention the military authori-
ties could not make any alteration in the laws of the land,
they did in two matters of administration increase the power
of self-government possessed by the Jews. They allowed
certain colonies to appoint their own police and their own
Jewish tax-collectors. So corrupt had the Turkish tax-
collectors been, that the Jewish tax-collectors, while taking
less from the colonists, were able to hand a larger sum to
the Government.
Much consideration was given by the Commission to the
work of strengthening and supporting the organizations for
relieving distress — orphanages, hospitals, and so on : a work
much needed owing to war conditions. Special reports on
the utilities of the various hospitals, schools, and orphanages
were drawn up. In Jerusalem great distress was found.
The Halukah Jews, settled in Jerusalem to study and pray
and entirely dependent on the support of the Jews of other
countries, had been by the war cut off from their means of
hvelihood. Widows and orphans were many, the adult men
having suffered excessively from epidemics. The Com-
mission opened laundries and a kind of shirt factory to
provide employment for women and did its best to find
employment for the men, although the importation of raw
materials was very difficult.
On 17th June there was opened at Jaffa the first con-
ference of Jews of the liberated area of Palestine. Major
Ormsby-Gore, the PoHtical Officer in charge of the Zionist
Commission, delivered the following speech : —
‘* You have asked me, as Political Officer in charge of the
Zionist Commission which has been sent out to Palestine by
H.M. Government, to attend this historic gathering and to
say a few words of good wishes to you, the representatives
of all Jewry in the occupied part of Palestine, on behalf of
my Government. I do so with a full heart. My Govern-
ment — the British Government — has said one or two im-
portant things during this war concerning Palestine.
” My Government has said that, if England and her Allies
win this war, the future Government of Palestine shall not
be Turkish, because in this war England and her Allies are
MAJOR THE HON. W. ORMSBY-GORE 143
fighting, not for the extension of any Empire, nor for the
acquisition of further power or further territory, but they
are fighting for an ideal, shared by all our Allies, namely,
that countries shall be governed in the interests and accord-
ing to the wishes and the aspirations of the inhabitants of
those countries. We are satisfied when we look at the results
of Turkish rule upon the land and the people of Palestine,
that such rule ought to disappear in the interests of Palestine
and of civihzation. The Turkish rule in Palestine was
an aUen rule, and was not in the best interests of any
of the inhabitants of Palestine, and, moreover, such a rule
crippled the free development, economic and political, of
this country.
” My Government has said that it wishes to see the people
of Palestine among others freed from the rule of the Turks,
but it has as yet said nothing as to what Government should
take its place — that is a matter for the Peace Conference.
But Mr. Balfour has made an historic declaration with
regard to the Zionists, that he wishes to see created and
built up in Palestine a National Home for the Jewish
people.
” What do we understand by this ? We mean that those
Jews who voluntarily come to live in Palestine should live in
Palestine as Jewish nationalists, i.e. that they should be
regarded as Jews and nothing else, and that they should be
absolutely free to develop Hebrew education, to develop the
country, and Hve their own life in their own way in Palestine
freely, but only submitting equally with all others to the
laws of the land.
” I shall tell the British Government, when I go back,
what the Jews of Palestine have done already to realize
their ideals, and what they feel with regard to this National
Home. I can say when I go back that I can see in this
gathering to-day the pioneer work of the National Home,
i.e. a National Home built up on a Hebrew foundation with
a definite consciousness and ideal of its own. I can say that
whether you come from Russia, from Salonica, from Bok-
hara, from Poland, from America, from England, or from
Yemen, you are bound together in Palestine by the ideal of
building up a Jewish nation in all its various aspects in
Palestine, a national centre for Jewry all over the world to
look to. This is the ideal of the future, an ideal which I am
convinced will be reaHzed without doing any injustice or
injury to any of your neighbours here. But while I look
144 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
forward to the realization of this ideal, I must remind you of
the grim realities of the present.
** We can still hear the guns, and we are in the midst of a
desperate struggle — not merely between nations, but
between ideals. Be patient with the British Government,
who wish you well. Do not expect a great deal from them,
but expect a great deal from yourselves. At present we are
bound to carry on the Turkish system of law, taxation, and
Government. We are bound to do this by international
law, and England has always tried to respect this inter-
national law. England set its seal to the Hague Convention,
which said that when an advance was made into enemy
country, the administration should be military and not
political, and that such military administration should
make no attempt to alter or change the institutions of the
occupied country ; it is not our wish that this is so, but it is
so by the rule of law, and we shall do our best to respect
this law no matter who else breaks it.
“It is difficult for a military administration to make
radical changes or to do much to help you and others in the
country. Nevertheless, some great things have been done
already ; the British Government has given opportunity to
the young men to join the battalion of Jews from other
countries to liberate this country. This splendid response
of your young men will have a great moral value when
history comes to be written. Every one of these fine and
splendid recruits now enrolled and who are going to the
battalions which have come from England and America,
will go as missionaries of Jewish nationalism in Palestine,
so that these men will stay in Palestine and help to develop
it on just and right lines. The British Government has done
something more of great service to you. The Government
has sent out to Palestine the Zionist Commission. It has
sent out Dr. Weizmann, i.e. the British Government has sent
out a man in whom it has confidence to help the Jews in
Palestine in their greatest hour of need What this help has
meant to you I need not go into in detail. The Zionist Com-
mission speaks for itself. Dr. Weizmann came here as a
stranger to the British authorities, but in a few weeks he has
won for himself, and for the people whom he represents, a
position among the British authorities and amongst all with
whom he has come into contact in Egypt, Arabia, and
Palestine ; a position which is not merely a help, but a
comer stone of the work which lies before you. The Zionist
Idffi
THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY 145
Commission is in a position to do much to acquaint not only
Jewry throughout the world, but also the Governments of
the AlHed countries, with the needs, ideals, and aspirations
of Palestine Jewry. It is, therefore, only right that you
should be guided in patience by him, your leader, and accept
his advice and direction. Dr. Weizmann is a leader who will
see you through. He is a man worthy of your confidence,
as well as of the confidence of all of the AlHed Govern-
ments.
” The work of the conference which I am addressing is
very important. You have a great deal to prepare for. You
have to prepare for peace, for the day when war is no more,
and when there will be, please God, a free Palestine. Gentle-
men, make sure that your foundation-stones are truly laid
in your agricultural, cultural, and educational work. So
much depends for civilization on the work for which you are
now preparing and which you will perform during the next
few months. You will be faced with all the difficult trivial-
ities of life, but in the Zionist movement there is a spirit,
and just as good transcends evil, so does the spiritual
transcend the material. You can build up a centre of
civilization here. We English owe all that is best in our
civilization to the Bible, and that is why we feel a deep
interest and a bond of sympathy in the work which you are
doing. The Zionist movement is not merely a political move,
but it is a spiritual force, and if it succeeds I feel it will
bring something great and noble to the world, a message
which will not only do so much for the sad but beautiful land,
but for the scattered hosts of Israel and for humanity.”
On 24th July, 191 8, the foundation-stones of the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem were laid. This was an event
which Zionists had conceived long before, an event likely
to be of great importance in enabling Jerusalem to become
a spiritual centre for the still dispersed communities of Israel,
and destined, let us hope, to influence and elevate the mental
life, social aspirations and religious conceptions of the Jews
of the world.
The site of the University is a beautiful one. It is on
Mount Scopus, on an estate purchased from the late Sir John
Gray Hill of Liverpool, who was personally in deep sym-
pathy with the scheme. It faces Jerusalem on the one side
and the valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea on the other.
At the ceremony of laying the foundation-stones those
present included, besides the members of the Zionist Com-
146 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
mission, the Commander-in-Chief and senior members of
his staff, the Military Governor of Jerusalem, staff repre-
sentatives of the French and Italian military detachments
in Palestine and other officers, the Mufti of Jerusalem,
Bishop Maclnnes, Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, the repre-
sentatives of the Armenian and Greek Churches, the Mayor
and Vice-Mayor of Jerusalem, Baron and Baroness Felix
Menasce of Alexandria, Maurice Cattaui Pacha, President
of the Cairo Jewish Community, Mr. Victor Mosseri, the
Chief Rabbis of Cairo and Alexandria, the Sephardi and
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbis, and representatives of all Jewish
organizations and committees in Jerusalem, Jaffa, and the
colonies. The day was declared a public Jewish hoHday in
Jerusalem, and a crowd numbering about six thousand
people witnessed the ceremony.
After the ceremony had been opened by a chant of praise,
Dr. Weizmann laid the first foundation-stone of the Uni-
versity on behalf of the Zionist Organization. He was
followed by the two Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem and the
heads of the United Council, who laid a stone on behalf of
the Jerusalem Community. The Mupi then laid a stone,
and was followed by the Anglican Bishop. Stones were also
laid on behalf of the following : The Zionist Organization,
the Jewish Regiment, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, the
town of Jaffa, the Colonies, Hebrew Literature, Hebrew
Teachers, Hebrew Science, Jewish Artisans and Labourers,
Isaac Goldberg (whose generosity it was that provided so
largely for the purchase of the site), and the Future Genera-
tions.
Dr. Weizmann then added his signature to a parchment
scroll inscribed with the blessing : ^
: ntn p]b win) ^:D’>p) irnnty nb)v^ hVd iiM^« ^» nn« nna
Wednesday, the fifteenth day of the fifth month,
the month of Menachem-Ab, being in the year Five
Thousand six hundred and seventy-eight from the
creation of the World, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-nine from the destruction of our second
Temple, and the twenty-first year after the first Zionist
Congress called by Dr. Benjamin Zeeb ben Jacob Herzl, the
first year of the Declaration of the British Government
* “Blessed art Thou 1 Lord our God, King of the Universe who hast
preserved us alive, and sustained us and brought us to {tnjoy) this season.”
DR. CHAIM WEIZMANN’S ADDRESS 147
issued through the Rt. Hon. Arthur James Balfour prom-
ising to grant a National Home to the Jewish People in
the land of Israel, — the day on which was laid the first stone
of the building which shall become the first Hebrew Uni-
versity in Jerusalem. In testimony of which we add our
signatures.” The signatures included that of the Sephardi
Chief Rabbi Nissim Elyashar, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi
Zerach Epstein, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Bishop Maclnnes,
Chief Rabbi Uziel of Jaffa in the name of Baron Edmond de
Rothschild, M. Libowitz, one of the last of the heroic band
of Bilu, Dr. Thon, Mr. D. Levontin, and some boys and
girls in the name of the future generation.
The signed scroll was buried under the first stone.
Dr. Weizmann then delivered an address. He said : —
” We have to-day laid the foundation-stone of the first
Jewish University, which is to be erected on this hill, over-
looking the city of Jerusalem. Many of us will have had
their thoughts cast back to the great historic scenes associ-
ated with Jerusalem, scenes that have become part of the
heritage of mankind. It is not too fanciful to picture the
souls of those who have made our history here with us to-day
inspiring us, urging us onwards, to greater and ever greater
tasks. Many again will have had their attention riveted on
the apparent contrast between to-day’s ceremony and the
scenes of warfare within a few miles of us. For only a brief
moment we are allowing ourselves to indulge in a mental
armistice, and in laying aside all thoughts of strife we try to
pierce the veil of war and glance into the future. A week
ago we were keeping the Fast of Ab, reminding us that the
Temple had been utterly destroyed and the Jewish national
political existence extinguished apparently for ever. But
throughout the long centuries we, the stiff-necked people,
have refused to acknowledge defeat, and ‘ Judcea Capta ‘ is
once more on the eve of triumph. Here, out of the misery
and the desolation of war, is being created the first germ of
a new life. Hitherto we have been content to speak of Re-
construction and Restoration. We know that ravished
Belgium, devastated France, Poland and Russia must and
will be restored. In this University, however, we have gone
beyond Restoration and Reconstruction, we are creating
during the period of war something which is to serve as a
symbol of a better future. It is fitting that Great Britain,
aided by her great Allies, in the midst of tribulation and
sorrow, should stand sponsor to this University. Great
148 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Britain has understood that it is just because these are times
of stress, just because men tend to become lost in the events
of the day, that there is a need to overlay these details by
this bold appeal to the world’s imagination. Here what
seemed but a dream a few years ago is now becoming a
reality.
*’ What is the significance of a Hebrew University — ^what
are going to be its functions, whence will it draw its students,
and what languages will it speak ? It seems at first sight
paradoxical that in a land with so sparse a population, in a
land where everything still remains to be done, in a land
crying out for such simple things as ploughs, roads, and
harbours, we should begin by creating a centre of spiritual
and intellectual development. But it is no paradox for
those who know the soul of the Jew. It is true that great
social and poHtical problems still face us and will demand
their solution from us. We Jews know that when the mind
is given fullest play, when we have a centre for the develop-
ment of Jewish consciousness, then coincidently we shall
attain the fulfilment of our material needs. In the darkest
ages of our existence we found protection and shelter within
the walls of our schools and colleges, and in devoted study
of Jewish science the tormented Jew found rehef and con-
solation. Amid all the sordid squalor of the Ghetto there
stood schools of learning where numbers of young Jews sat
at the feet of our Rabbis and teachers. Those schools and
colleges served as large reservoirs where there was stored up
during the long ages of persecution an intellectual and
spiritual energy which on the one hand helped to maintain
our national existence, and on the other hand blossomed
forth for the benefit of mankind when once the walls of the
Ghetto fell. The sages of Babylon and Jerusalem, Maimon-
ides and the Gaon of Wilna, the lens polisher of Amsterdam
and Karl Marx, Heinrich Heine and Paul Ehrlich are some
of the links in the long, unbroken chain of intellectual
development.
” The University, as its name impHes, is to teach every-
thing the mind of man embraces. No teaching can be fruitful
nowadays unless it is strengthened by a spirit of enquiry
and research ; and a modern University must not only
produce highly trained professional men, but give ample
opportunity to those capable and ready to devote them-
selves to scientific research to do so unhindered and un-
disturbed. Our University will thus become the home of
DR. CHAIM WEIZMANN’S ADDRESS 149
those hundreds of talented young Jews in whom the thirst
for learning and critical enquiry has been engrained by
heredity throughout ages, and who in the great multitude
of cases are at present compelled to satisfy this their burning
need amid un- Jewish, very often unfriendly surroundings.
” A Hebrew University ! 1 do not suppose that there is
anyone here who can conceive of a University in Jerusalem
being other than a Hebrew one. The claim that the Uni-
versity should be a Hebrew one rests upon the values the Jews
have transmitted to the world from this land. Here in the
presence of adherents of the three great religions of the world,
which amid many diversities build their faith upon the Lord
who made Himself known unto Moses, before this world
which has founded itself on Jewish law, has paid reverence
to Hebrew seers, has acknowledged the great mental and
spiritual values the Jewish people have given to it, the
question is answered. The University is to stimulate the
Jewish people to reach further truth. Am I too bold if here
to-day in this place among the hills of Ephraim and Judah,
I state my conviction that the seers of Israel have not utterly
perished, that under the aegis of this University there will
be a renaissance of the Divine power of prophetic wisdom
that once was ours ? The University will be the focus of the
rehabilitation of our Jewish consciousness now so tenuous,
because it has become so world-diffused. Under the atmo-
spheric pressure of this Mount, our Jewish consciousness can
become diffused without becoming feeble, our consciousness
will be rekindled and our Jewish youth will be reinvigorated
from Jewish sources.
” Since it is to be 3. Hebrew University, the question hardly
arises as to its language. By a strange error, people have
regarded Hebrew as one of the dead languages, whilst in fact
it has never died off the lips of mankind. True, to many of
us Jews it has become a second language, but for thousands
of my people Hebrew is and always has been the sacred
tongue, and in the streets of Tel Aviv, in the orchards of
Rischon and Rechoboth, on the farms of Hulda and Ben
Shemen, it has already become the mother tongue. Here in
Palestine, amid the Babel of languages, Hebrew stands out
as the one language in which every Jew can communicate
with every other Jew. Upon the technical difficulties con-
nected with Hebrew instruction it is unnecessary for me to
dwell at the moment. We are alive to them ; but the
experience of our Palestinian schools has already shown to
150 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
us that these difficulties are surmountable. These are all
matters of detail which have been carefully examined and
will be dealt with at the appropriate time. I have spoken
of the Jewish Universit}^ where the language will be Hebrew,
just as French is used at the Sorbonne, or English at Oxford.
Naturally, other languages, ancient and modern, will be
taught in the respective faculties ; among these languages
we may expect that prominent attention will be given to
Arabic and other Semitic languages.
” The Hebrew University, though intended primarily for
Jews, will, of course, give an affectionate welcome to the
members of every race and creed. ‘ For my house will be
called a house of prayer for all the nations. ‘ Besides the usual
schools and institutions which go to form a modern Uni-
versity, there will be certain branches of science which it will
be peculiarly appropriate to associate with our University.
Archaeological Research, which has revealed so much of the
mysterious past of Egypt and of Greece, has a harvest still
to be reaped in Palestine, and our University is destined to
play an important part in this field of knowledge.
” The question as to the faculties with which our University
may begin its career is limited to some extent by practical
considerations. The beginnings of our University are not
entirely lacking. We have in Jerusalem the elements of a
Pasteur Institute and a Jewish Health Bureau, whence
valuable contributions to bacteriology and sanitation have
already been issued. There is the school of Technology at
Haifa, and the beginning of an agricultural experimental
station at Athlit. It is to scientific research and its applica-
tion that we can confidently look for the banishment of those
twin plagues of Palestine, malaria and trachoma ; for the
eradication of other indigenous diseases ; it is to true
scientific method that we may look for the full cultivation
of this fair and fertile land, now so unproductive. Here,
chemistry and bacteriology, geology and cUmatology, will
be required to join forces, so that the great value of the
University in the building up of our National Home is
apparent. All that again reminds us of the fact which one
is likely to forget after four years of a terrible war, with its
misapplication of scientific methods, that we must look to
science as to the healer of many wounds and the redeemer of
many evils. Side by side with scientific research the human-
ities will occupy a distinguished place. Ancient Jewish
learning, the accumulated, half-liidden treasures of our
THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY 151
ancient philosophical, rehgious and juridic literature, are to
be brought to Hght again and freed from the dust of ages.
They will be incorporated in the new Hfe now about to
develop in this country, and so our past will be linked up
with the present.
” May I be allowed, before concluding, to point to one very
important aspect of our University ? The University, while
trying to maintain the highest scientific level, must, at the
same time, be rendered accessible to all classes of the people.
The Jewish workman and farm labourer must be enabled to
find there a possibihty of continuing and completing their
education in their free hours. The doors of our hbraries,
lecture rooms, and laboratories, must be opened widely to
them all. Thus the University will exercise its beneficial
influence on the nation as a whole. The bare nucleus of the
Hbrary is already in existence here, and very valuable addi-
tions to it are at present stored up in Russia and elsewhere.
The setting-up of a University hbrary and of a University
press are contemplated soon after the war. Manifold are
the preparations yet to be made. Some of them are already
in progress ; some, hke the actual building, must necessarily
be postponed until the happy day of peace arrives. But
from this day the Hebrew University is a reality. Our
University, formed by Jewish learning and Jewish energy,
will mould itself into an integral part of our national structure
which is in process of erection. It will have a centripetal
force, attracting all that is noblest in Jewry throughout the
world ; a unif3dng centre for our scattered elements. There
will go forth, too, inspiration and strength, that shall revivify
the powers now latent in our scattered communities. Here
the wandering soul of Israel shall reach its haven ; its
strength no longer consumed in restless and vain wanderings.
Israel shall at last remain at peace within itself and with the
world. There is a Talmudic legend that tells of the Jewish
soul deprived of its body, hovering between heaven and
earth. Such is our soul to-day ; to-morrow it shall come to
rest, in this our sanctuary. That is our faith.”
Dr. Weizmann then read the following message from
Mr. Balfour : —
” Please accept my cordial good wishes for the future of
the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. May it carry out
its noble purpose with ever-increasing success as the years
go on. I offer my warm congratulations to all who have
laboured so assiduously to found this school of learning,
152 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
which should be an addition to the forces of progress
throughout the world.”
Captain Coulandre, on behalf of the French Government,
presented the following message : —
” Le Gouvernement de la Republique est heureux d’ex-
primer les sentiments de sympathie avec lesquels il accueille
la fondation de TUniversite Juive. II forme des vceux
sinceres pour que de la rayonnent les grandes pensees de
fraternite et d’ideal auxquels le Judaisme s’est si fermement
attache a travers les siecles au cours desquels il a resiste a
toutes les persecutions, et pour que dans un monde debarasse
des violences engendrees par les ambitions forcenees du
regime Prussien les Juifs qui le desireront puissent trouver
en Palestine en parfaite entente avec les autres groupements
ethniques un foyer a la fois intellectuel et social.”
The whole ceremony was a deeply moving one, and
produced an effect which will long remain with those who
witnessed it.
The work of the Commission was made possible by the
work of the British Army and its scope was greatly increased
by General Allenby’s complete conquest of the country. In
September, 1918, General AUenby secured a victory which
resounded throughout the world by its completeness as
well as by its brilUance. By most skilful procedure the
Turkish hne was broken in several places and Nablus and
Beisan were captured. The bridge of the Daughters of Jacob
over the Jordan was seized and British troops wheeling
round by quick marches along the coastal plain, passed
through the defile of Megiddo and cut off the greater portion
of the Turkish army. The strong Turkish positions in the
hills about Nahlns were surrounded and positions which if
directly attacked would have cost thousands of lives were
taken with comparatively few losses.
Eighty thousand prisoners were captured and a vast
amount of guns, munitions, and stores. The cavalry swept
northward and captured Damascus within a few days, and
even moved on to Beirout and Sidon on the coast, while
the Arabs under the King of the Hedjaz defeated the Turks
in the south-east of Palestine and Jewish troops were sent
forward to the capture of Amman and Essalt. In a period
of a fortnight, three armies were defeated and ceased to
exist. Turkey’s mihtary power was destroyed instant ane-
DEFEAT OF TURKEY 153
ously. The only defences left to the Turkish Empire were
bad communications, immense distances, and the sub-
marines in the Eastern Mediterranean. The victories in
Palestine stirred the world and gave new vigour to Zionist
efforts. To the outside world, these victories marked the
first decisive step in the final defeat of the German federa-
tion. To the Zionists, they brought great joy because they
definitely ended the corrupt rule of Turkey. Supported by
the most powerful nations in the world, the Jews are asked
to create in Palestine a typically Hebrew society. A great
responsibility and a great opportunity are thus offered to
us. We have to consider many new and difficult problems.
But for the solution of these practical problems, we con-
fidently expect to receive much help from Jews all over
the world. The Declaration of the Allies has been like a
trumpet-call. Our wonderful successes in the world of
diplomacy fascinate all to whom the fate of Israel is of
importance. The history of the past few years, which has
transformed, at the cost of terrible injuries to humanity,
what seemed dreams into plain facts, and made what were
facts into dream-like memories, will surely bring us active
help from all who sympathize with our ideal, the ideal for
which Jews have unceasingly prayed and hoped for twenty
centuries.
This mighty war has now come to an end and the world
breathes freely once more. The cruelties and horrors of
more than four years seem now like a nightmare. That
nightmare has vanished — let us hope for ever. Day has
dawned again, a day of victory, whose power for good out-
weighs the evil powers let loose by the world-war. The
great armies of the Western Allies and of the United States
of America have been victorious. In consequence of this
victory an old world order has been destroyed and a new
and a better one brought into being. State organizations
which had forced diverse nations into their artificial
and incongruous structures only by power are collapsing like
houses of cards. Those who ruled by the sword perished
by the sword. Despotism, supported by militarism, is
shattered. The victory of the Allies ought to be more than
a victory of one group of states over another ; this ought
to be the victory of what is good in man over what is evil.
154 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
This victory must benefit the conquered not less than the
conquerors. One great idea has been victorious in this war,
namely, the national principle : liberty, equality, and self-
determination of all peoples, great and small, old and young.
Every nation has the right to live, given the will to do so.
Every nation has a right to the land in which it grew to be
a nation. It is all one, whether this was accomplished a
hundred years ago as in Belgium, or many hundreds of
years ago as in Armenia, or as in Greece some thousands of
years ago. The right of a people to its historical home can-
not be limited by time.
On the basis of this principle a new Europe is shaping
itself. Every nation must have its own land, its share in
human civilization, with its own speech and customs, its
right to do as it wills. Alsace-Lorraine wants to be French,
and therefore it shall be French again. The Czechs and the
Southern Slavs wish to form independent states ; Poland,
Belgium, Serbia, and others, too, are reasserting their inde-
pendence. Wherever historical rights exist, these must
now be realized. Every nation regains now its Zion for
which it has longed and suffered. Although this is a great
progress in itself, it would be a poor safeguard unless the
other great principle were also adopted, the principle of
freedom. With the regeneration of national freedom it
follows also that the progress of human liberty, equality,
and social justice both in the existing states and in the old
ones now to be re-established will be assured. No despotism,
no subjection of minorities, but liberty, equality, and
fraternity for all citizens, equal duties and equal rights.
For this ideal seven millions of men, the vigorous youth
of mankind, have sacrificed their lives, and many millions
more have been crippled. For this ideal of justice several
countries have been laid waste and civilization itself has
been threatened with complete destruction. This great
ideal of justice, however, will be worthy of the terrible
sacrifices which have been made ; it must now be attained.
A new Europe and — a new Asia. Light is shining again
from the East. The glorious British Army has reconquered
ancient East for civilization. The Arabs, our Semitic
kindred, the descendants of a chivalrous and one-time
famous race, side by side with inspired Jewish volunteer
forces who had flocked together to fight with love and
enthusiasm for the Land of Promise, have, with the assist-
ance of French and Italian reinforcements, done their duty
THE JEWISH DEMAND 155
in assisting the British Army. Mesopotamia, Arabia,
Syria, and Palestine are now freed for their nations. An
Arabian Kingdom, a free, well-ordered Syria, the remnants
of the unfortunate, hard-tried Armenian nation established as
an Armenian State, and a new Erez Israel, all these will have
to be created on a basis of historical rights and of the real-
ization of the national principle, each under the protection of,
and receiving assistance from, some suitable Great Power,
in accordance with their own desire, in their gradual and
peaceful progress towards their ultimate goal.
What, we ask, will now be the position of the’ Jews at this
juncture ? What will the great victory bring to this people
who have been so hard hit by this war ? Hundreds of
thousands of Jews have lost their lives, most of them in
countries where they had no share in human rights, and
nothing to fight for. Dying on the Carpathian moun-
tains or in the plains of Moldavia, the last glance of their
closing eyes was turned to the East, to the hills of Zion,
Innumerable masses have been maimed, millions nerve-
shattered and starved out, tens of thousands of Jewish
homes, thousands of old Jewish communities wiped out,
never to be reconstructed. Will all this not be taken into
account in the general reckoning of the great victory ?
Jews live in larger or smaller numbers in different countries,
where they are faithful and devoted citizens. The majority
of the Jewish people have suffered too long and too bitterly
in many countries, and it must be the task of the nations
and their governments, once and for all, to put an end to these
unspeakable sufferings in the old states and in those soon
to be founded, by solemn declarations and binding obliga-
tions. The Jews desire to be emancipated, that is, released
from servile tutelage ; in a free state they do not wish to be
the only pariahs and slaves. They demand to be free ;
that means in the first place that they want to breathe
freely, to breathe wherever they wish without fear that
a policeman or a neighbour should point out to them that a
Jew may not breathe everywhere. They demand to be free ;
that means in the second place, that they should have
the right to use their powers of mind and body un-
hindered in any honest calling, in any useful art, in any
branch of science ; so that they can be active and industri-
ous, follow skilled employments, or discharge the functions
of office in order to maintain themselves and their families
and not be a burden upon others. This they desire without
156 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
having to fear that the Gentile competitor should be able
to say to them : only Gentile hands, only Gentile craftsmen
may be employed in skilled trades, only Gentile applicants
are admitted to official positions, only Gentile abilities can
assert themselves. And as there are too many of you, we
must make laws to limit your activities — otherwise we shall
boycott you ! They demand to be free ; that means in the
third place that they must be free also as regards their
conscience : if their sons possess sufficient talent and know-
ledge to serve the country as scholars or as public officials,
they should be able to do so as honest Jews, and not be
compelled to parade as dishonest Christians, that is to pro-
fane the ceremony of baptism and to use the certificate of
baptism as a passport to office ; they do not wish to act
as hypocrites, they do not wish to enter Christian com-
munities by lying and knavery, or to smuggle themselves in
that way into civic life. They wish to live as Jews, that
means to maintain and to develop undisturbed in their true
spirit their customs, their traditions, their system of educa-
tion, their communities, etc. In short, they wish to be
human beings, since he that may not be a citizen with a
citizen’s full rights in the place where he lives and works and
bears his share in all social burdens, has been denied the
right to be a human being ; or if rights are granted to a man
under the condition that he should become assimilated and
cease to be what he has been, thanks to his race and the
traditions sacred to him, against that man’s manhood the
crime of murder has been committed. They wish to be free
human beings.
This question indeed concerns humanity. It was raised
at the end of the eighteenth century by the great French
Revolution, and in some states with small Jewish popula-
tions it has been solved in a spirit of liberty. France, Eng-
land, Italy were the pioneers of equal rights for all. The
United States of America were an example in establishing
the freedom of citizenship. Nevertheless the majority of
the Jews presented during the course of the nineteenth
century a pitiful spectacle of unceasing martyrdom — ^with
many shades from semi-emancipation linked with anti-
semitism, to boycott and massacres.
The world is changing all its values, and should there be
in any country a continuation of tyranny, oppression, and
barbarous persecution with regard to the Jews, under any
pretext — of which there has never and nowhere seemed to
THE JEWISH PROBLEM 157
be a lack — ^then the great ideal of this world-war will remain
an idle dream. For justice can never exist together with
injustice. This problem of humanity must now be and will
be solved.
But the essential problem of modern political evolution
lies deeper than this : it is the problem of the peoples that
have been robbed of their lands. No matter how the posi-
tion of the Jews may be ameliorated, and although many
Jews may find a home here and there, nevertheless the
genius of the Jewish people, the energy of its constructive
power, its creative force will have no adequate means of
expression. To have a strong impulse to live their own
full life and not to be able to do so — ^that is the heart-
breaking tragedy of this people. This essential dilemma is
left untouched by the vague formula of Emancipation.
Zionism is the only remedy for the deeper Jewish problem,
because Zionism alone goes to the real root of the trouble.
There can be no Emancipation worthy of the name without
a homeland. The greatest danger to Zionism as well as to
anti-Zionism is that the ideal of Zionism on the one hand
and that of Emancipation on the other should be separated,
and that people should come to regard as antagonistic objects
which are essentially related and complementary to one
another. Not all Jews will return to Palestine, but large
numbers will. Zionism represents one of the highest mani-
festations of that aspiration to free national existence which
is the basis of the reconstruction of the world. When a
people, uprooted for centuries from its soil, scattered like
dust over the whole world, wants to restore its homeland
to-day, to have a land where it can be reunited, then we have
before us a proof of the new power that lies in the national idea.
Millions of Jews are attached to Palestine with all their soul
and strength, just as on the first day of the forced expulsion
of their ancestors from their old home : their prayers, their
lamentations, their dreams have centred for generations
upon this magnetic pole of their love and reverence. Hun-
dreds of times they made desperate efforts to return, but
were prevented by powerful circumstances from doing so,
and as soon as they had the opportunity of beginning again
the re-settlement of Palestine, notwithstanding unspeakable
sufferings and the greatest sacrifices, they instantly and
energetically availed themselves of it. If the millions of
Jewish emigrants who formed the new ghettoes of Europe
and America from about 1880 to now had had the possi-
158 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
bility of going to Palestine, they would have gladly seized
it, because they wished to hve as a nation, but that was not
possible at that time. Israel must have its own home.
Palestine must become the spiritual and cultural centre of
the Jews. Properly developed, it can hold miUions of home-
less Jews who will at last have their own homeland and
their own full nationahty. If it is a misfortune for a
people to be robbed of its country, where it could
live in peace and prosperity as a nation and enjoy
in common with the rest of the family of nations
the fruits of its labour, then this misfortune is not
smaller but rather has become greater for having
existed two thousand years. If it is an injustice to withhold
from a people a land to which they have a right, then this
injustice is not the smaller, but rather the greater, when a
people has suffered it for two thousand years. Never has a
nation governed its own home for a longer period ; no
nation’s history, rehgion, literature, and traditions are more
closely bound up with its land ; and no nation has ever
suffered a more terrible martyrdom after having been dis-
inherited. Can anyone doubt the right of the Jewish people
to the land of Israel ? The validity of the Jewish title to
Palestine rests on the same basis as the title of any nation
to any particular area of the world where it has ruled and
existed for centuries. The Jews* historical right on the
Land of Israel, with due consideration for the rights and
interests of the non- Jewish population which will be safe-
guarded and respected, must become the decisive factor
in the question of Palestine.
At last the time has come. The spirit of freedom is on
the wing, the Great Creative Spirit is once more moving
among the nations. The new territorial settlement is going
to lay the foundations of the world’s peace on a basis of
justice and national union. The liberation of oppressed
nationalities, the restoration of territories violently annexed
in the past, the recognition of the desire of racial units and
groups for autonomy are the great objects in view. The
wrongs of the centuries are going to be righted, and the
Jewish race to be placed on an equal footing with other races.
The Jewish people is standing at a momentous turning
point in its history of four thousand years, to which the
determined labour of Zionism has paved the way. The
very roots of Jewish nationality are set in that soil which
after being for ages in shadow is again turning to light.
THE SUPREME TASK 159
With the victory of the national idea Zionism also has won
a victory. Now that Palestine is freed, much is possible
which formerly was only an aspiration. The field is immense
and ready. The evil demon of the Pharaohs and of Antio-
chus Epiphanes has been cast out ; the glorious genius of
Cyrus the Great hovers with wings of love over the wonder-
ful destiny of the Jewish people. Powerful nations and
governments — ^the guardians of freedom and the champions
of justice — ^have solemnly pledged themselves to further
with all the forces at their disposal the revival of the Jewish
nation in the land of Israel. Under this guiding symbol
the problem of Palestine will be discussed and settled by the
Peace Conference among all the important questions before
it. The work is stupendous in its implications and its
responsibilities. No one imagines that this result can be
speedily attained. Its accomplishment will take time, and
quite possibly a long time. To restore a scattered people to
a land long neglected is not an easy task. The Jewish
colonization of Palestine must be carefully built, stone upon
stone, by the steady hands of Zionists with that spirit of
self-sacrificing endurance which saved our nationality, with
wisdom and self-restraint. Zionists are aware of what the
Holy Places of Palestine, places of traditional associations
and religious faith, consecrated by a thousand cherished
memories, are to the great religions. These places will receive
equal respect ; they will be, not less, but more than hitherto
reverently exalted as places of the rarest and sweetest
memories in the world. Zionists have the most scrupulous
regard for all spiritual things and needs of all religions, and
are confident that all Holy Places will be safeguarded by
arrangements to be introduced Zionists are also alive to the
legitimate interests and needs of the non- Jewish population,
whose liberty and welfare, in peace and harmony and
mutual respect, are most essential for the success of the
Jewish national rebirth. The new Jewish centre must be
made worthy of its glorious past. The noblest ambitions of
Jews all over the world are concentrated on this point.
Zionists have now an opportunity never dreamt of —
an opportunity that may never return. The Jewish masses,
all those who want to live their own life, the clean,
free life of ; farmers and settlers, will be enabled to
cultivate ‘all the possibilities of their
Zionists have now an opportunity never dreamt of —
an opportunity that may never return. The Jewish masses,
all those who want to live their own life, the clean,
free life of ; farmers and settlers, will be enabled to
cultivate ‘all the possibilities of their nature. Industry,
art, and science are to join hands in this great work.
The long-desired goal of the Jewish people, the re-
i6o THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
habilitation of the old national home in the land of
their fathers, is nearing reahzation. This is a great historical
event which must touch and stimulate the imagination of
all for whom history, right of nations, and justice for small
nationalities have any meaning or any message. Ancient
Israel, reawakened to new life, is preparing itself to enter
the family of nations as a small but free nation in its old
home.
Zionism is not a mere abstract idea. It is connected by
every bond with modern democracy and aspirations for
liberty. All peoples for whom democracy is not a vain
word owe it moral and material support. The Peace Con-
ference must permit it to attain its ends. The League of
Nations will not be complete if the oldest and most oppressed
Jewish nationality will not have its place there. Of all the
consequences of the Great War and the still greater Victory,
none could be invested with so splendid a degree of romance
as the re-establishment of Israel. Of all the small nations
which shall spring full fledged from this world crisis, none
will have so ancient a claim, so fascinating a history as
the Hebrew people reinstalled among the consecrated hills
of Judah and by the sacred waters of Galilee. This will be
an everlasting memorial to the principle for which the free
peoples of the earth have made the greatest sacrifice in the
history of the human race. And the names of all those who
have given their support and help towards this work of
Peace, Justice, and Libert 3^ will live for ever in the annals of
the world and of Israel.
APPENDICES
B. M. : British Museum Library.
I. S, : Israel Solomons’ Collection.
The Prophets and the Idea of a National Restoration
The first prophet who has left any definite revelation concerning
the Dispersion of the Jews and their ultimate restoration in
Palestine was Moses, our Law-giver.
” And I will bring the land into desolation ; and your enemies
that dwell therein shall be astonished at it.” (Leviticus xxvi. 32.)
” And you will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out
the sword after you ; and your land shall be a desolation, and your
cities shall be a waste.” {Ibid. 33.)
” And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies,
I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them
utterly, and to break My covenant with them^;^ for I am the Lord
their God.” {Ibid. 44.)
” But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their
ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight
of the nations, that I might be their God : I am the Lord.” {Ibid. 45.)
Here we have a promise not to abhor or utterly destroy the
Jewish people, but to remember the covenant which God made
with their ancestors. We find the purport of this covenant in an
early chapter of the Pentateuch : —
” And the Lord said unto Abram, . . . ‘ Lift up now thine eyes,
and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward
and eastward and westward ; ” (Genesis xiii. 14.)
” for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed for ever : ” {Ibid. 15.)
It is impossible to understand how it can be said that this
covenant will be remembered, if the Jewish people is to continue
dispersed, and is to he for ever excluded from the land here spoken
of. As to the return from Babylonian captivity, that will not
answer the intention of the covenant at all. For to restore a
small part of the Jewish people to its own land for a few genera-
tions, and afterwards disperse it among all nations for many
times as long, without any hope of return, cannot be the meaning
of giving that land to the seed of Abram for ever.
II.— M 161
i62 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Again we read : —
” And the Lord shall scatter you among the peoples, …”
(Deuteronomy iv. 27.)
** But from thence ye will seek the Lord thy God ; and thou shalt
find Him, if thou search after Him with all thy heart and with all thy
soul.” {Ibid. 29.)
” In thy distress, when all these things are come upon thee, in the
end of days, thou wilt return to the Lord thy God, and hearken unto
His voice ; ” {Ibid. 30.)
” for the Lord thy God is a merciful God ; He will not fail thee,
neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which
He swore unto them.” {Ibid. 31.)
This prophecy refers to the thirteenth chapter of Genesis, as is
shown by this thirty-first verse ; and confirms again the return
to the Holy Land, and its possession for ever : —
” And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon
thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and
thou shalt bethink thyself among all the nations, whither the Lord
thy God hath driven thee,” (Deuteronomy xxx. i.)
” and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and hearken to His voice
according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children,
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul ; ” {Ibid. 2.)
” that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have com-
passion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the
peoples, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.” {Ibid. 3.)
” If any of thine that are dispersed be in the uttermost parts of
heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from
thence will He fetch thee.” {Ibid. 4.)
” And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy
fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it ; and He will do thee
good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.” {Ibid. 5.)
Amongst the “things which should come upon them,” which
axe described at large in the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth
chapters of Deuteronomy, it is particularly said : —
” And the Lord shall scatter thee among all peoples, from the one
end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth ; . . .”
{Ibid, xxviii. 64.)
But observe that subsequently we are told : —
” And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which
thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it ; and He will do thee
good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.” {Ibid. xxx. 5.)
which promises do not appear to have been fulfilled during the
time of the Babylonian captivity, or after the return from
Babylon.
Here we have in plain words, simple and clear, the funda-
mental idea of Moses : the Jewish national future and the
possession of the land for ever. This cannot be explained away
b y sophistry. In vain some Jews declare : We are not nationalist
APPENDICES 163
Jews, we are religious Jews ! What is the Jewish religion if the
Bible is not accepted as an Inspired Revelation ? It is strange
and sadly amusing that some Jews, adherents of the monotheistic
principle, describe themselves as Germans, Magyars, and so on,
” of the persuasion of Moses.” If this is not blasphemy, it is
irony. The real Moses, the Moses of the Pentateuch, brands
Dispersion as a curse, and his whole religious conception, with all
the laws, ceremonies, feasts, etc., is built up on the basis of the
covenant with the ancestors, a covenant immovable and un-
alterable. No matter whether Jews call themselves religious or
nationalist : the Jewish religion cannot be separated from
nationalism, unless another Bible is invented.
Judaism, or the Jewish religion, is based first upon the teaching
of Moses, and next upon that of the prophets, and it is a favourite
claim of the modern school of Jewish reform that their Judaism
is ” Prophetic Judaism,” in opposition to the Judaism of orthodox
Jews, who lay particular stress upon the Talmud. But what do
the prophets teach ?
The next revelation in chronological order after the inspired
predictions of Moses, is that of Joel the son of Pethuel, who began
to prophesy to the Kingdom of Judah about eight hundred years
before the civil era : —
” Then was the Lord jealous for His land,
And had pity on His people.” (Joel ii. 18.)
” And the Lord answered and said unto His people :
Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil,
And ye shall be satisfied therewith ;
And I will no more make you a reproach among the nations ; ”
[Ibid. 19.)
" For, behold, in those days, and in that time.
When I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,"
{Ibid. iv. I.)
" So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain ;
Then shall Jerusalem be holy, ..." {Ibid. 17.)
" But Judah shall be inhabited for ever,
And Jerusalem from generation to generation." {Ibid. 20.)
Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, lived in the days
of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, King of Israel, and prophesied to
the Kingdom of Israel from eight hundred and eight, to seven
hundred and eighty-three years before the civil era : —
" And I will turn the captivity of My people Israel,
And they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them ; ..."
(Amosix. 14.)
" And I will plant them upon their land.
And they shall no more be plucked up
Out of their land which I have given them,
Saith the Lord thy God." {Ibid. 15.)
i64 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Hosea, the son of Beeri, prophesied to the Kingdom of Israel,
in the days of the same Jeroboam from about seven hundred and
eighty-five, to seven hundred and twenty-five years before the
civil era : —
" For the children of Israel shall sit solitary many days without
king, and without prince, . . ." (Hosea iii. 4.)
" afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord
their God, and David their king ; . . ." {Ibid. 5.)
This prophecy, being given to the Kingdom of Israel in parti-
cular, cannot be applied to the return of Judah from Babylon.
Isaiah the son of Amoz (The First Isaiah) was the foremost
of the four who are called the greater prophets. He lived in the
time of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah,
and prophesied about seven hundred and sixty, to six hundred
and ninety-eight years before the civil era : —
" And it shall come to pass in that day.
That the Lord will set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people.
That shall remain from Assyria, and from Egypt,
And from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam,
And from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the
sea." (Isaiah xi. 11.)
" And he will set up an ensign for the nations,
And will assemble the dispersed of Israel,
And gather together the scattered of Judah
From the four comers of the earth." {Ihid. 12.)
" The envy also of Ephraim shall depart,
And they that harass Judah shall be cut off ;
Ephraim shall not envy Judah,
And Judah shall not vex Ephraim." {Ibid. 13.)
This prophecy, alone, is sufficiently definite with regard to a
second restoration of Israel, as appears from the eleventh verse,
even if there were no other to be found.
As to the second Isaiah, his prophecies may be called the
" Song of Songs " of the restoration of Israel : —
" Lift up thine eyes round about, and see :
They all are gathered together, and come to thee ;
Thy sons come from far.
And thy daughters are borne on the side." (Isaiah Ix. 4.)
" Who are these that fly as a cloud.
And as the doves to their cotes ? " {Ibid. 8.)
" Surely the isles shall wait for Me,
And the ships of Tarshish first,
To bring thy sons from far.
Their silver and their gold with them,
For the name of the Lord thy God,
And for the Holy One of Israel, because He hath glorified thee."
{Ibid. 9.)
APPENDICES 165
" For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make,
shall remain before Me, said the Lord, so shall your seed and your
name remain." [Ihid. Ixvi. 22.)
Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Jotham,
Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, about 750 years before the
civil era : —
" I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee ;
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel ; ..." (Micah ii. 12.)
" In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth.
And I will gather her that is driven away.
And her that I have afflicted ; " {Ihid. iv. 6.)
" And I will make her that halted a remnant.
And her that was cast far off a mighty nation ;
And the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from thence-
forth even for ever," {Ihid. 7.)
" Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham,
As Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old."
{Ihid. vii. 20.)
Here we again meet the covenant of Truth and Mercy sworn
unto Abraham, that the land Abraham then stood upon should
be given to him and to his seed for ever.
Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of
Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, prophesied in the days of Josiah,
the son of Amon, king of Judah, about six hundred and thirty
years before the evil era : —
" At that time will I bring you in.
And at that time will I gather you ;
For I will make you to be a name and a praise
Among all the peoples of the earth.
When I turn your captivity before your eyes,
Saith the Lord." (Zephaniah iii. 20.)
Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in
Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin, also prophesied in the days
of Josiah, about six hundred and twenty-nine to five hundred and
eighty-eight years before the civil era : —
" In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of
Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to
the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers."
(Jeremiah iii. 18.)
" In his days Judah shall be saved.
And Israel shall dwell safely ; . . ." {Ihid. xxiii. 6.)
" Thus saith the Lord,
Who giveth the sun for a light by day.
And the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by
night.
Who stirreth up the sea, that the waves thereof roar,
The Lord of hosts is His name : " {Ihid. xxxi. 35.)
i66 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
" If these ordinances depart from before Me,
Saith the Lord,
Then the seed of Israel also shall cease
From being a nation before Me for ever." {Ibid, 36.)
" Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying :
The two families which the Lord did choose, He hath cast them ofE ?
and they contemn My people, that they should be no more a nation
before them." {Ibid, xxxiii. 24.)
" Thus saith the Lord : If My covenant be not with day and
night, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and
earth ; " {Ibid. 25.)
" then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David My
servant, ..." {Ibid. 26.)
" But fear not thou, O Jacob My servant.
Neither be dismayed, O Israel ;
For, lo, I will save thee from afar.
And thy seed from the land of their captivity ;
And Jacob shall again be quiet and at ease,
And none shall make him afraid." {Ibid. xlvi. 27.)
Ezekiel the Priest, the son of Buzi, prophesied in the land of
the Chaldeans by the river Cebar, about five hundred and ninety-
five, to five hundred and seventy-four years before the civil era.
In the thirty-sixth chapter he describes the restoration of Judah
and Israel in words so plain and clear that nobody could possibly
mistake them, and in the next chapter, by the wonderful vision
of dry bones reviving, he shows that, however unpromising the
state of Israel may seem, while they are dispersed through the
world, yet will God most certainly effect the reunion of the tribes
which is here foretold : —
" Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them — it shall
be an everlasting covenant with them ; and I will establish them,
and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them
for ever." {Ibid, xxxvii. 26.)
Chapters thirty-eight and thirty-nine give a most circum-
stantial description of the return, which excluded the possibility
of an allegorical explanation.
Obadiah prophesied about five hundred and eighty-seven years
before the civil era : —
" But in Mount Zion there shall be those that escape.
And it shall be holy ;
And the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions."
(Obadiah i. 17.)
" And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel,
That are among the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath,
And the captivity of Jerusalem, that is in Sepharad,
Shall possess the cities of the South." {Ibid. 20.)
APPENDICES 167
Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, prophesied
about five hundred and twenty years before the civil era, to those
that had returned from captivity. He had the idea of a great
future restoration.
' "And it shall come to pass that, as ye were a curse among the
nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and
ye shall be a blessing ; fear not, but let your hands be strong."
(Zechariah viii. 13.)
" I will bring them back also out of the land of Egypt,
I ff And gather them out of Assyria ;
1". And I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon,
And place shall not sufl&ce them." {Ibid. x. 10.)
Malachi prophesied about four hundred and twenty years
before the civil era : —
" And all nations shall call you happy ;
For ye shall be a delightsome land,
Saith the Lord of hosts." (Malachi iii. 12.)
" Behold, I will send you
EUjah the prophet
Before the coming
: Of the great and terrible day of the Lord." {Ibid. 23.)
Daniel's (Belteshazzar) prophecies from about five hundred
and thirty-four, to five hundred and seven years before the civil
era relate not only to the affairs of Judah and Israel, but also to the
various monarchies and kingdoms that are to arise successively
in the world. In the following verses he foretells the national
future of his own people : —
" And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a
kingdom, which shall never be destroyed ; nor shall the kingdom be
left to another people ; . . ., but it shall stand for ever." (Daniel ii. 44.)
" And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the
kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of
the saints of the Most High ; their kingdom is an everlasting king-
dom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them." {Ibid. vii. 27.)
"... and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was seen
since there was a nation even to that same time ; and at that time
thy people shall be deUvered, . . ." {Ibid. xii. i.)
These predictions undoubtedly signify that the Children of
Israel shall enjoy a kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven,
i.e. upon the earth, which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the
kingdom be left to another people.^
1 The most notable Talmudic and Rabbinical passages referring to the
future of the Jewish nation are : Talm. Bab. Betachoth 28b, 34b ; Shahb.
Ii8a ; Menahoth 45a ; Baha Mezia 3a ; Eduyoth VIII, 7 ; Kiddushin 71a ;
Gen. Rabba LXXXV. 2 ; Hagigah 14a ; Sanhedtin 38b ; 98a. 99a, nob,
ma; Ertibin 43b; Cant. Rabba VII. 10; Sifri on Deut. 1:1; Baba
i68 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
II
Rev. Paul Knell (1615-64), Israel and England Paralleled
Israel | And | England | Paralelled, | In a Sermon preached before
I the honourable society of Grayes-\Inne, upon Sunday in the
I afternoon, Aprill 16. 1648. |
By Paul Knell, Master in Arts of Clare-Hall \ in Cambridge.
I Sometimes Chaplaine to a Regiment of Curiasiers | in his
Majesties Army.
London, | Printed in the Yeare 1648.^
(4/0. 2 II. + 20 pp.) [b. M.]
pp. 16-17. ” . . • • first, we may compare with Israel for a
fruitfull scituation, being neither under the torrid nor the frozen
Zone, neither burned away with parching heat, nor benummed
away with pinching cold, but seated in a temperate climate &
fertile soile ; our folds are full of sheep, our vallies stand so thick
with corne that we may laugh & sing. God hath also fenced us
about, like the Israelites in the red sea, with a wall of water, the
waters are as a wall unto us, on our right hand, & on our left, . . .
And now, England, what doth thy Lord thy God require of thee,
hut to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his waies, and to love him,
and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soule ? But here God may as iustlv complaine of us as he did of
Israel, . , .”
Bathra 76a. For the views of the Gaon Saadia ben Joseph (892-942) see
Guttman, Religionsphilosophie des Saadia, Gottingen, 1882, p. 236 ; for
Hai ben Sherira Gaon (939-1038) see Taam Zekenim, Frankfort on the Main,
1854, pp. 58-61 ; for Abraham ben Chiya Albargeloni Ha’ nasi (called
Abraham Judaeus and Savasorda) (1065-1136) see Hegion Ha’nefesh,
Leipzig, i860, p. 40 ff. ; for Judah Halevi, see his Poems and Kuzari in
Cassel’s edition, Leipzig, 1869, ii. 36-44, pp. 143-7, p. iv. 23 ; pt. i. 115 ;
for Maimonides, see Hilchoth Melachim in his Yad Ha’chazakah, Chs. XI.
XII. and Hilchoth Teshubah, Ch. IX. 2 ; for Nachmanides, see his Comment,
to Gen. 2 : 3, and to Exodus 17:9; for Abarbanel, his books Yeshuat
Meshicho, Mashmia Yeshuah, Maeyenai Ha’yeshua, and Klausner : Die
Messianischen Vorstellungen . . . Berlin, 1904, and also Greenstone :
The Messiah Idea in Jewish History, Philadelphia, 1906.
^ It was re-issued thirty-three years later : —
. . . London, Printed in the year 1648. And now Reprinted for a Caution
to all those that are given to Change.
Sold by Randal Tayler and Robert Stephens, by Stationers-Hall, near
Ludgate. 1681.
4to. 2 II. -{-16 pp. [i. s.]
APPENDICES 169
III
Matthew Arnold on Righteousness in the Old Testament
Matthew Arnold, in his Literature and Dogma, insists that
righteousness is in a special manner the object of Bible religion.
The word ” righteousness ” is a master word in the Old Testa-
ment. What would England have been were it not for the im-
portance which Jeshurun, the upright, attached to the thought
and practice of righteousness ? She might have been eminent
in law, in arts and sciences borrowed from the Romans and the
Greeks, but she would have been addicted to idolatry and the
gratification of the senses, and would have borne the doom of
destruction within herself. He draws a vivid imaginary picture
of the authorities of one of the English great Universities, the
vice-Chancellor, beadles, masters, scholars, and all, nay, their
very professor of moral philosophy, going in procession to
worship at the shrine of Aphrodite.
” If it had not been for Israel,” he continues, ” and the stern
check which Israel put upon the glorification and divinization of
this natural bend of mankind. . . . And as long as the world
lasts, all who want to make progress in righteousness will come to
Israel for inspiration, as to the people who have had the sense
for righteousness most glowing and strongest ; and in hearing
and reading the words Israel has uttered for us, carers for conduct
will find a glow and a force they would find nowhere else. As
well imagine a man with a sense for sculpture not cultivating it
by the help of the remains of Greek art, or a man with a sense for
poetry not cultivating it by the help of Homer and Shakespeare,
as a man with a sense for conduct not cultivating it by the help
of the Bible.”!
IV
“ESPERAN9A DE Israel,” by Manasseh Ben- Israel
:?KnfiJ^> n^pD I Esto es, I Esperangaj De Israel. |
Obra con suma curiosidad conpuesta | por \ Menasseh Ben Israel |
Theologo, y Philosopho Hebreo. |
Trata del admirable esparzimiento de los diez | Tribus, y su
infalible reduccion con los de | mas, a la patria : con muchos
puntos, I y Historias curiosas, y declara-|cion de varias Prophe-
cias, I por el Author rectamen- 1 te interpretadas. |
^ Literature and Dogma … By Matthew Arnold . . . London . . . 1873 . . .
pp. 26, 36-37 and 56.
170 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Dirigido a los senores Parnassim delK.K.\de Talmvd Tora.|
En Amsterdam. | En la Imprension de | Semvel Ben Israel Soeiro.| ^
Ano. 5410. 1
(sw. 8°. yU. + 126 pp.)* [I. s.]
^ The surname ” Ben Israel Soeiro ” used by the printer, a son of the
author, is a combination of those of his paternal grandparents Joseph Ben-
Israel and Rachel Soeiro, who had been marranos. Joseph, a victim of the
Inquisition, on returning to the Jewish fold, it may be surmised, discarded
his gothic patronymic and appropriately assumed that of Ben-Israel.
Their son, the author, married Rachel, a great-granddaughter of the
famous Bible exegete and statesman Don Isaac Abrabanel, who claimed
Davidic descent. In an age when .Din> was highly prized, we consequently
find that in the following year, when Samuel printed his father’s Nishmath
Chayyim, his surname has become ” Abrabanel Soeiro,” and in the Latin
addition, ” Ben Israel Abrabanel Sueiro.” He was born in Amsterdam in
1625. He accompanied his maternal uncle, David Abrabanel [Manuel
Martinez Dormido], to England, on behalf of his father, arriving here oa
ist Sep., 1654, to open up negotiations with CromweU concerning the
admission of their co-religionists to this country. It was decided that the
presence of Manasseh was incumbent, and a pass to Holland, dated
16 May, 1655, was granted to Samuel, to fetch his father. They arrived in
the following October, and resided here close on two years. On Sunday,
the second day of Rosh Hashanah, 5418 [8 Sep., 1657, n.s. : 29 Aug. o.s.],
at the early age of thirty-two, Samuel went to his Eternal rest. He
had conjured his father that he would take his body to Amsterdam, where
he was bom, for burial. Manasseh was then in a precarious state of health,
and on arriving at Middleburg in Zealand, where Ephraim Abrabanel, the
maternal uncle of the deceased, resided, he was unable to continue the
journey. The interment took place at the local Beth Haim, and the Rev.
Isidore Harris, m.a., a few years ago discovered the tombstone* in the third
carera, which has the following inscription : —
Sa I Do Doctor Semvel | F° Do Haham Menasseh | Ben IsraCel | Faleceo
em 2 Tisri | 5418.]
Manasseh’s illness was mortal. His son Joseph had died at the age of
twenty about eight or nine years before, and the premature death of his
last surviving son hastened his end. A few weeks later, on the 11 Kislev
(20 Nov.), he passed away in the house of his brother-in-law, but fifty-
three years old. He was interred at the Sephardi Beth Haim at Oudekerk,
Amsterdam.
* Another issue, with a similar collation, but apparently from other type,
was printed in the same year. [i. s.]
It appeared again during the last quarter of the nineteenth century
under the following title : — ,
Origen De Los Americanos. »7N1t5′* T\)p1^ Esto Es Esperanza De
Israel . . . Reimpresion . . . Del Libro De Menasseh Ben Israel . . . Publicado
En Amsterdam 5410 (1650) … y la biografia del autor. For Santiago Perez
Junquera.
Madrid.— 1881. . . .
8**. xxxvi pp.-\-S W.-f 126 pp.-\-3 II. in printed wrapper as issued. [i. s.]
* Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England, vol. viL, 191 1-
1914 . . . Edinburgh and London, 1915. . . .p. 127 : “A Dutch Burial-
Ground and its English Connections.” By the Rev. Isidore Harris, m.a.
APPENDICES 171
V
“Spes Israelis,” by Manasseh Ben-Israel
‘PXX** nipD I Hoc est, I Spes | Israelis. |
Author e | Menasseh Ben Israel | Theologo & Philosopho Hebrseo.
Amstelodami. | Anno 1650. |
(sw. 8°. 6//.+ iii^^.) [I. s.]
sig. [A2] Svpremo Anglise Consessvs Parlamento, ejusdemque
ReipuUiccB Status Consilio Honorando, Salutem, ac felici-
tatem omnem, a Deo apprecatur Menasseh Ben Israel.*
VI
” Hope of Israel— Ten Tribes … in America— S«ik>* nipD
De Hoop Van Israel,” by Manasseh Ben- Israel
The I Hope of Israel : |
Written | By Menasseh Ben Israel, | an Hebrew Divine, and
Philosopher. |
Newly extant, and Printed in | Amsterdam, and Dedicated by
the I Author to the High Court, the | Parhament of England,
and I to the | Councell of State. |
Translated into English, and ( published by Authority. |
In this Treatise is shewed the place where the ten \ Tribes at this
present are, proved, partly by \ the strange relation of one Antony
Monte-| zinus, a Jew, of what befell him as he tra-\ veiled over the
Mountaines Cordillaere, with \ divers other particulars about the
restoration of \ the Jewes, and the time when. \
Printed at London by R. I. for Hannah Allen, \ at the Crown in
Popes-head | Alley, 1650. |
(sm. 8°. 7 II. + go pp.) [i. s.]
sig. As . ” To the Parhament, the Supream Court of England,
and to the right Honourable the Councell of State, Menasseh Ben
Israeli, prayes God to give health, and all Happinesse.” But the
original edition in Spanish is dedicated “A los Muy Nobles,
Prudentes, y Magnificos Senores, Deputados y Parnassim deste
K.K. de Talmud Tora.” . . . Amsterdd. a 13 de Sebat. An. 5410.
In this first English version the name of the translator does not
appear on the title page, nor does ” The Translator to the Reader ”
bear any signature ; but ” Moses Wall ” does appear on the title
pages of two issues of a second edition which appeared in 1651 and
1652. (4^0. 5 //. -f-62 pp.) [B. M.l
^ This translation was probably the work of the author. Bound up with
this copy is a folded engraving of the author by Salom Italia.
172 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
It was published again under the following title : —
" Accounts Of The Ten Tribes of Israel Being In America ;
Originally Published By R. Manasseh Ben Israel.
With Observations Thereon, And Extracts From Sacred And
Profane, Ancient And Modern History, Confirming The Same ;
And Their Return From Thence About The Time Of The Return
Of The Jews.
By Robert Ingram, a.m. Vicar of Wormingford and Boxted,
Essex.
Colchester : Printed And Sold By W. Keymer ; Sold Also By
G. G. J. And J. Robinson, Pater-Noster-Row, London, 1792.
[Price One ShilUng.]
(8°. 5^PP) [I.S.]
There are several Hebrew versions, the first translation appearing
in 1698.
\\\ihi y^T ^KitJ’* in r\m’o . . i xh^n Dsnn . . . mn h^y^r* nip»
Yinn D*p*^^5 “n . . . ^”v ^’^'\\>r\ \wbh pnj;^ nnyi ^ : nN”nj^in ^la
n:tj>i . . . Dn”)i3K’»N2 oaii . . . : dtid^^idn ^”pi |tn V’vt f^ npy*
,yyov |»K^Np DiQin . . . p^B^ [mn]
(i6wo. ID (66) II Y [I. s.]
De I Hoop I Van Israel. |
Een Werck met groote naiikeurigheyt \ beschreven : |
Door 1 Menasseh Ben Israel | Hebreeuws Godtgeleerde en |
Wijsbegeer.|
Waer in hy handelt van de wonderlijcke \ verstroyinge der 10
Stammen, en hare ge-\wisse herstellinge met de twee Stammen
Juda I en Benjamin in’t Vaderlandt. Met veele aen-\wijsingen,
naukeurige vertellingen, en verkla-\ringen van verscheyde Pro-
phetien. |
Met meer als 90 Beschrijvers bevestight : |
Met een verantwoordingh voor de | Eedele Volcken der Jooden. |
Den 2. Druck^ van veel Letter -mis stellingen gesuyvert.\
t ‘Amsterdam, | Voor Jozua Rex, Boeck-binder, | op de Cingel,
recht over de Appelen-marrickt, | in’t Jaer 1666. |
(l2mo. 6 //. + 124 pp. [De Hoop Van Israel.])^ [l. s.]
1 It was composed in Spanish in 1650 and did not appear in Dutch
until 1666.
* A third edition was published in the same year, with the following
addition : —
De Reysen van R. Benjamin Jonasz Tudelens, In de drie Deelen der Werelt,
als Europa, Asia, en Afrika : . . . In’t Nederduyt overgeschreven door Jan
Bara. . . . iiy pp. [b, m.]
‘ Bound up with this copy is a folded engraving of the Author by
Salom Italia.
It has also been translated into Yiddish.
APPENDICES 173
VII
|The Humble Addresses of Manasseh Ben-Israel
To I His Highnesse | The | Lord Protector | Of The | Common-
Wealth Of I England, Scotland, and Ireland.
The Humble Addresses | Of | Menasseh Ben Israel, a Divine,
and I Doctor of Physick, in behalf e \ of the Jewish Nation. \
(4to. 4 II. + 26 pp. )^ [I. s.]
VIII
“VlNDICI^ JUDiEORUM,” BY MANASSEH BEN-ISRAEL
Vindiciae | Judaeorum, | Or A | Letter | In Answer to certain
Questions propounded by | a Noble and Learned Gentleman,
touching I the reproaches cast on the Nation of the | Jevves ;
wherein all objections are | candidly, and yet fully cleared. (
By Rabbi Menasseh Ben Israel a Divine \ and a Physician.]
Printed by i^. Z>. in the year 1656. |
(4/0. I I. + 41 pp. y [I. s.]
IX
Ensena a Pecadores
Libro I Yntitulado | Enseiia | A | Pecadores |
Que contiene diferentes | obras, mediante las qua- 1 lespide el
hombre | piedad a su | Criador. |
En casa y acosta | de David de castro Tartaz. \
En Amsterdam \ Anno 5426.]
(I2W0. 88+n (8) />/).) [B.M.]
^ This was probably printed in Amsterdam, in anticipation of his visit
to England.
A second issue from another press, and in which the collation varies
(4 //. + 23 pp. [I. S.]) may have been printed in London, as at the end it
has the following addition : —
” Which is the close of Rabbi Menesse Ben-Israel, a Divine, and Doctor
in Physick, in the Strand over against the New-Exchange in London.”
The British Museum copy of the 23 pp. edition has the following date in
manuscript on the title page : ” November 5, 1655.”
2 In 1743 it was reprinted in octavo form (2 II. -\-67 pp. [I. S.]). It was
translated into German either by Dr. Marcus Herz (i 747-1 803) or by his
wife, the celebrated Henrietta Herz (i 764-1 847), and published in 1782,
with an introduction by Moses Mendelssohn (i 729-1 786) {sm. 8°. LI1 +
64 pp. [I. S.]). It has also appeared in Hebrew [I. S.], Polish [I. S.],
French and Italian.
174 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Page 2. ‘* Prologo. . . . Aviendo pues el Senor hecho merced al
mundo en truer a luz las ohras divinas del H. Rihi Esayah,
su memoria sea para benedicion, las quales son llenas de
doctrinas y modos de encaminar al hombre a la salvacion. . . .”
pp. 61-79. ” Conficion Muy Copiosa Maravillosay llena de divinos
conceptos y misterios, hecha por el divino Theologo y excellentis-
simo Sabio, Ribi Yshac Askenazi de Loria, Traduzida de
Hebrico, en lengua castellana, por el doctissimo Haham
Menasseh ben Ysrael ; el Anno 5383. la qual se puede dezir
estando el hombre enfermo de ajuno en qual quiera tiempo.”
pp. 80-88. Vidvy Penitencial . . . Auctor Selomoh De Oliuera.
,]w^i nn« n”n aiy in^nnn fx» ni^v^ix n hdVk^ . . . msjD nn^
pp. n-fc^ y^t^lit: d^h’pn ^n »:ud nx5^a
“De Terming ViXiE— of the Term of Life,” by Manasseh
Ben-Israel
D^mn nn!i | Menasseh | Ben Israel, | De | Termino | Vitae : |
Libri Tres. |
Quibus veterum Rabbi-\ norum, ac recentium do-\ ctorum, de
hac con-\troversia sententia \ explicatur.\
Amstelodami . Typis & sumpti-|bus authoris An. 1639. |
(I2W0. 8 U. +237 pp. +25 11.)^ [I. S.]
1 Sixty years later it was translated into English : —
Of The I Term \ Of | Life. | viz. | Whether it is fix’d or alterable ; |
With the Sense of the Jewish Doctors, | both Ancient and Modem, touching
I Predestination and Free-Will. |
Also an Explication of several obscure j Passages and Prophecies in the
Old Testa-J ment ; together with some remarkable Cu-| stoms observ’d by
the Jews. \
Written in Latin by the Famous Menasseh | Ben-Israel the Jew and now
Translated j into English, By Tho, Pocock, m.a. |
To which are added, the Author’s Life, never be-| fore Publish’d ; and a
Catalogue of his Works, j
London Printed, and Sold by J. Nutt, near | Stationers-Hall, and by the
Booksellers of Lon-\ don and Westminster, 1699. I
(stw. S°. 6 ll. + xvi-^ 116 pp.) [I. s.]
sig. A2. ” To Colthorp Parker, Esq. ; ”
De Termino VitfS : \ Or The | Term | Of | Life, j Viz. | Whether it is fix’d or
alterable ; |
With the Sense of the Jewish Doctors, | both Ancient and Modern, touch-
ing’)! Predestination and Free-Will, j
APPENDICES 175
XI
“D^^n r\l2m—DE IMMORTALITATE ANIM^,” BY MANASSEH
Ben-Israel
: p”sh [2^r\] n:\i^2 •n-’xiD i^NmnN* ^nide^ -inncn p Disnn d^i:
(4/0. 8 + ni;p (174) +2 //.) [I. s.]
Some editions, which are excessively rare, have this Latin addi-
tion : —
D^^n niDK’J I Menasseh Ben Israel | Libri Quatuor | De |
Immortalitate Animse. |
In quibus multse insignes & ju-|cundae quaestiones ventilantur, |
uti videre est, ex argu-|mento operis. |
Amstelodami, | Apud Autoris filium | Samuel Ben Israel
Ahrabanel Sueiro.\
Anno cb. olc. Li.|
(8//.) [I.S.]
sig. A2. (Epistola Dedicatoria) Ferdinando iii. Augustiss°.
Romanorum Imperatori. . . .
Also an Explication of several obscure Passages and | Prophecies in the
Old Testament ; together with | some remarkable Customs observed by
the Jews. J
Written in Latin by the Famous Menasseh | Ben- Israel the Jew, and now
Translated into EngUsh. j
To which are added, the Author’s Life, never be- | fore Publish’d ; and a
Catalogue of his Works. |
London, Printed for W. Whitwood at the Rose \ and Crown in Little-
Britiain. 1700. | (sm. 8°. 6 II. -\-xvi+ii6 pp. +1. [catalogue]). [i. s.]
sig. A2. ” To Colthrop Parker, Esq. ; ”
Of The I Term | Of | Life, | Viz. : | Whether it is fix’d or alterable ; | With
the Sense of the Jewish Doctors, | both Ancient and Modern, touching
Pre- 1 destination and Free-Will. |
Also an Explication of several obscure [ Passages and Prophecies in the
Old Testa- 1 ment ; together with some remarkable J Customs observed
by the Jews. \
Written in Latin by the Famous Menasseh | Ben-Israel the Jew, and now
Transla- | ted into English, By Tho. Pocock, a.m. | Rector of Danbury in
Essex, and Chaplain to his j Grace the Duke of Bedford. |
To which are added, the Author's Life, by the Translator ; and a Catalogue
of his Works. |
London, Printed for Tho. Baker at the | Bible and Rose in Ludgate-street.
1709. I {sm. S**. 8//.4-xxiv4-ii7 pp.-\-i I.) [i. s.]
sig. A2. ” To Christopher Tilson, Esq. ; Of The Treasury.”
176 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Sig. A42. Augustissimi Imperatoris Servus humilltmus
Menasseh Ben Israel.
Amstelodami Calendis Decembris Anno cb. be. li.
XII
” Rights of the Kingdom,” by John Sadler
Rights of the Kingdom ; | Or, | Customs of our Ancestours : . . .
With an Ocasionall Discourse of Great Changes yet I expected
in the World. I
London, | Printed by Richard Bishop. 1649. | ^
(4to. 4 II. + Aa — Mm +F-Z +A-C in fours.) [i. s.]
sig. G4. ” How they are Now, I need not say, although I might
also beare them witnesse, that They are yet Zealous in Their
Way. nor doe they wholly want, ingenuous able men. of
whom I cannot but with Honour, mention Him, that hath
so much obHged the world, by his learned Writings ; Rab
Menasseh Ben Israel : a very learned, Civill Man, and a
Lover of our Nation.
” The more I think upon the Great Change, now comming
on Them, and All the World ; the more I would be Just and
Mercifull to Them, to All.”
XIII
“Nova Solyma,” edited by Rev. Walter Begley
Nova Solyma The Ideal City ; Or Jerusalem Regained
An Anonymous Romance Written In The Time Of Charles I.
Now first Drawn From Obscurity, And Attributed To The Illus-
trious John Milton.*
With Introduction, Translation, Literary Essays And A BibUo-
graphy
By The Rev. Walter Begley
vol. i., ii.
London John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1902.
(p. 4). ” The book was first presented to the public in small
octavo form with this title page :
^ It was republished thirty-three years later anonymously, as was the
first issue.
London: “Printed, iox J. Kidgell. 1683, 4^0. /^ II. -{-^ig pp. [b. m.]
2 The author was Samuel Gott (1613-1671), see “The Authorship of
Nova Solyma,” by Stephen K. Jones (1910), and B.M. Catalogue.
APPENDICES 177
Novae | Solymae | Libri Sex. | Londixu Typis Joannis Legati.|
MDCXLVIII. I
*’ The book contained three hundred and ninety-two pages, of
which the last contained the errata and the printer’s short notice
to the reader. There was no preface or introduction of any kind,
and no notes. The only printed extra was this Latin motto in
the middle of the blank page facing the title :
* Cujus opus, studio cur tantum quaeris inani ? ‘
‘ Qui legis, etfrueris,feceris esse tuum.*
which I turn thus :
(/>. 5). ” * Whose is the book ? ‘ do you ask. ‘ Why start such a
bootless enquiry ?
If you but read and enjoy, you will have made it your own.’ ”
(pp. 5-6). “… The next year the same book was published
again — an evident attempt to utilise the unsold remainder, as
there was no difference whatever, except a new title page with
the old fly-leaf motto included in it and a page at the end contain-
ing the autocriticon. In the only copy I have seen, [St. John's
College, Cambridge], the title page runs as follows :
Novee Solymae Libri Sex ; sive Institutio Christiani.
1. De Pueritia.
2. De Creatione Mundi.
3. De Juventute.
4. De Peccato.
5. De ViriH Aetate.
6. De Redemptione Hominis.
Cujus opus, studio cur tantum quaeris inani ?
Qui legis, et frueris, feceris esse tuum.
Londini : Typis Johannis Legati, et venundantur
per Thomam Underbill sub signo Biblii in vice
Anghce dicto Woodstreet. mdcxlix.”
Here we have the very useful addition that it was published
by Thomas Underbill, of Wood Street.
(preface pp. vii-viii). “. . . That such a wide-reaching, learned,
and varied work should have been allowed to remain unappre-
ciated and utterly ignored for more than two hundred and fifty
years is certainly a very surprising literary fact. . . .
” The critics seem to have been both blind and deaf. They
gave no encouraging praise, and no disheartening condemnation.
They simply took no notice. And so this great work of seven-
teenth-century art vanished from the sight of men. A few
copies were put away in college libraries, where they rested for
years undisturbed and dust-covered in their original positions,
and have so continued to rest for two centuries and a half, lost
to the world.”
II.— N
178 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
(p. i8). ” There is a spirit of pure, lofty, and unselfish morality
evident throughout all the various scenes of this interesting and
unaffected book. It shows us the brightest, strongest elements
of God-fearing Puritanism; . . .** “Here are the lyric songs from
* the law and prophets/ Abraham’s meditation on the Mount
Moriah, Cain’s lamentations for Abel, David’s lament for Saul
and Jonathan, and many a noble ode from the Psalms and short
epics from Job. . . ,” ” Here Truth and Justice and the Fear
of God are all placed on the high pedestals they so well deserve ;
and there is withal a kindly insistence everywhere on those great
teachings which tend to make life more abounding in hope, more
perfect in self-restraint and more lifted-up in spirit.”
All these ideas are Hebrew, and characteristically Biblical
But the most curious fact, from our point of view, is that this
work contains a description of the Ideal State on Mount Zion.
Of course, the tendency is thoroughly Christian, but it is that kind
of Christianity which is inspired by the Old Testament and by a
sentiment of love for the old Jewish nation and the Holy Land.
This book is the poetical expression of the Restoration ideas of
the seventeenth century. It begins with a description of the
springtime in New Jerusalem, ” the city with twelve gates ”
(Ezekiel xlviii. 31), and ” a virgin who held in her right hand a
golden rod, and in her left the two tables of the Law.” The
tourist-visitors, ** two Englishmen and the third a Sicilian,”
are told that “it is the anniversary of the founding of the city
and the virgin you saw represented Zion, or, as they say, the
Daughter of Zion.” ” They ” evidently refers to the Jews.
Strangers are received with remarkable hospitality (as in
Herzl’s AUneuland),
(^.86). ” But Jacob, for that was the old man’s name, urged
him all the more, * Come, come,* said he, *it is a national
duty with us to treat strangers with kindness, not unmindful
that we too, long ago, were strangers in Egypt, and since then
for a long time strangers and wanderers among all the nations of
the earth. But now we call none aliens from Israel. …”
(p. 88). ” We are now very close on the fiftieth year since our
long and widely-scattered nation was restored to its present
wonderful prosperity.” The old Jew then explains the system of
education adopted in the new country, a system of physical
development and moral integrity.
Joseph, who is one of the tourists and the hero of the romance,
indulges in songs of Zion.
{pp. 175-6). ” O sacred top of Solyma,
How lovely is thy place
Where stands the city of our King
Where faithful saints rejoice and sing
O mercy, love and grace I
APPENDICES 179
‘* For there our greater Temple stands
With greater glory blest
And there redeemed from alien lands,
Brought back at last by God’s own hands,
His Israel finds her rest.”
Here the translator remarks :
{p. 177) note i : ” How many sighs and prayers have gone up
from the dispersed children of Zion in Russian Poland, in Galicia,
in Roumania and by the old broken wall of Jerusalem in these
latter days ! What longing for this * antepast of Heaven ‘ that
Joseph here speaks of ! What passionate desire for that time,
when the children of Zion should no longer have to sing * the
Lord’s song in a strange land ‘ ! Is this century to see the
Zionists in possession again of their Holy City — their longed-for
Salem, the * Vision,’ the ‘ Foundation,’ the * Inheritance ‘ of
Peace, as expositors have variously entitled it ? Who can say ?
From a practical point of view the prospect somehow fails to
charm ; but when I view it in theory, it seems as if the justice of
the world as well as the justice of the Eternal One would be nobly
consummated by such a termination to an earthly pilgrimage of
nigh two thousand years.”
The anonymous author proceeds to describe the old-new home,
and the people, new-born in benevolence, piety and purity,
with their national distinctiveness, and the two tables of the
Law. Thus, with all his honest and deep Christian convictions
and belief in the final triumph of his religious ideas, he recognizes
the right of the Jewish nation to have their country and to remain
faithful to their traditions. This strange romance, after all sorts
of philosophical reflections and sketches of various adventures in
Sicily and elsewhere, comes back to Zion to sing the songs of the
Old Testament in Latin verse in a way which shows that the
author had the rhythm and atmosphere of Biblical poetry to
perfection, and also that his views were much more in harmony
with the notions of that time than with modern conceptions.
The whole work is inspired by great enthusiasm for Israel’s glory,
and abounds with sympathy and admiration for the Jewish
nation.
Begley, who was a man of profound knowledge and an authority
on matters of composition and style, ascribes this work to Milton.
If this view be accepted, then to this poet’s glory must 1 e added
a further claim to immortality, because he was the first poet who
expounded — from a Christian point of view — the idea of Israel’s
Restoration in the form of a poetical romance. But from our
point of view it^does not matter whether Milton was the author,
or another poet ; the fact remains that this remarkable work is
English and appeared in England in 1648.
i8o THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
XIV
” PRiEADAMiTiE— Men Before Adam,” by Isaac de La Peyr^re *
Another of his famous works, also published anonymously,
was : —
Praeadamitae. | Sive j Exercitatio | super Versibus duodecimo,
decimotertio, & | decimoquarto, capitis quinti Epistolse I D. Pauli
ad Romanes. | Qvibvs Indvcvntvr|Primi Homines ante Adamum|
conditi. |
Anno Salvtis, | m.dc.lv. |
(4/0. 22 lL-^2gy-\-Spp. [Synagogis Ivdseorvm Vniversis.]) [i. s.]
In the following year it was translated into English : —
Men before Adam, | Or | A Discourse upon the twelfth, | thir-
teenth, and fourteenth Verses | of the Fifth Chapter of the
Epistle I of the Apostle Paul to the | Romans. |
By which are provd, \ That the first Men were erea- | ted before
Adam. |
London, | Printed in the Year, 1656. |
(8°. 8 //.+61 pp.+(^ Pp.-\-35 l^ [I. s.]
The End of the first Part {No more published)
sig. A.4. ” To all the Synagogues to the Jews, dispersed over the
face of the Earth.”
sig. M.S. ” Terrae Sanctae Delineatio ” (A map of the Holy Land).*
XV
Isaac Vossius
Isaac Vossius was born at Leyden in Holland, one of the
sons of the renowned scholar Gerard John Vossius by his
second wife Elizabeth, daughter of Francis du Jon (Junius)
(1545-1602), French theologian and philologist. All the sons
were precocious scholars, but Isaac was undoubtedly the most
eminent. … He was invited by Queen Christina of Sweden,
one of the most erudite women of her time, to come and
shed the lustre of his learning upon Stockholm. He arrived
towards the end of 1649, was appointed a Court Chamberlain,
* Account of Peyreyra, Author of ” Praeadamitae,” ” Rappel des Juifs,”
&c. Translated from ” Lettres Choisies de M, [Richard] Simon, (i 638-1 721)
ou Ton trouve un grand nombre de Faits et Anecdotes de Literature.
Rotterdam 1702.”
(Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. Ixxxii., November, 1812, pp. 432-434 ; and
vol. Ixxxiii., June, 1813, pp. 614-616.)
* In another issue in the same year the eight preliminary leaves are from
another press. [i. s.]
APPENDICES i8i
and taught the Queen Greek. In 1650 he sold her his father’s
library for twenty thousand florins, with the stipulation that he
received five thousand florins yearly with board and residence
for its superintendence. In 1652 owing to certain differences he
left Sweden. In 1655 Manasseh Ben Israel dedicated to him : —
nip”* pi niN^n [B. M.]
(Astronomical Tables), and here he became acquainted with
Christopher Columbus (1446 ?-i5o6).
His pupil Joseph Vecinho (Vizino) [Diego Mendes], physician
to Joao II, the Great (1455-1495), King of Portugal (1481-1495),
translated the work into Latin. It was printed by a Jew, Samuel
APPENDICES 185
D’Ortas, at Leiria in 1496, and entitled ” Almanach Perpetuum.”
Dr. Vecinho presented a copy to Columbus, which he always
carried with him and consulted on his voyages, deriving in-
valuable help from it.
It was this very book that he used to predict the eclipse of the
moon, which so terrified the Indians in Jamaica that they became
obedient to him, and furnished his party food. After his death
it was found in his library. On the margins are calculations in
his penmanship, which were doubtless made to verify those of
Zacuth.i
On the exile from Spain, 2 August, 1492, the author went to
Lisbon, where he was appointed astronomer and historiographer
to Joao II. He was of material assistance to the great navigator
Vasco da Gama (1460 ?-i524), in preparation of his voyage to
India. The ships were provided with Zacuto’s newly perfected
iron astrolabes, which hitherto had been of wood. He was highly
esteemed by da Gama, who took leave of him on the 8 July, 1497,
in the presence of his entire crew.
Portugal also expelled the Jews, so he fled with his son Samuel
to Tunis, and here in 1504 he wrote his famous ponv “iSD which
is a chronological history of the Jews from the Creation up to
1500.
It was first printed in Constantinople in 1566 [b. m.], and an
issue edited by Herschell Filipowski (1817-1872) was published
in London in 1857, some copies of which were printed on vellum
[b. m.]. Tunis being invaded by Spain he emigrated to Turkey,
where he died some time after 15 10.
XXII
Jacob Judah Aryeh ve Leon
Haham Jacob Judah Aryeh de Leon [Templo] of marrano origin,
was born in Hamburgh in 1603. Here for some years he was
teacher in Hebrew and Rabhinics to the Kahal Kadosh de Talmud
Tor ah. Subsequently he was appointed Haham of Middelburgh
in Holland, where in 1642 he published tracts in Spanish* and
^ The Authentic Letters of Columbus. By William Eleroy Curtis, . . .
Chicago, . . . 1895, pp. 115-116.
^ Retrato Del Templo De Selomo. . . . Compuesto, pot laacob levda Leon
Hebreo, vezino de Middelbuygo, en la Provincia de Zelanda.
En el Ano de 5402 ala creacion del Mundo.
En Middelbvrgo, En Casa de la Biuda y Heredeos de Symon Moulert
Imprimidor de los Estados de Zelanda. m.dc.xlii.
(4n n^^nn -ibd^
Dn-iDK^DN ns DQii . . . nx mm* ipv» -iinDrj . . . ddhh
(4*0 2 + rh II. [i.s.]) . . , p”B^ 1KD5 D^DB^n ‘n ib’Vp bmi ‘n rm
Two hundred and ten years later, it was reissued at Warsaw with an
” approbation ” of Samuel Mohilewer, the great Zionist, who at the time
was Chief Rahhi of Suwalk.
* Traktat des Jak. Jeh. Leonis von dem Tempel Salomonis. Aus dem
Hollandischen ausgefertigt : Hannover, 1665, 8°.
(Bibhotheca Judaica. . . . JuUus Furst . . . Leipzig . . . 1849, p. 232.)
* Jacobi Jehvdae Leonis De Tempio Hierosolymitano, … ex EbraBo
Latin^ recensiti h. Johanne Savberto. . . Helmaestadt Impressit Jacobvs
Mvllervs cb. b. c. ixv.
(4/0. Eng. Frontis. [Augustus . . . Dux Brunovicensis et Lunaeburgensis
. . . Conr. Buno /ec.]4-Eng. Title-page +a-d in jouv^ [c* : Jacobi
Yehudae Leonis Hebraei. Conr. Buno /ec.]+) : (in fours -\- 211 pp. [in-
correctly numbered 203 pp.]-{-a,t p. 35 folio folded sheet with Latin text
-{-folio folded sheet of Temple plans + engraving of model of Solomon’s
Temple, Palace and Fort Antonio, with explanatory details in Dutch -|-
at /). 94, engraving of the ” Priestly garments “+at p. 168, engraving of
Holy Vessels, Candelabrum, etc. + at p. 179, engraving of ” Ark of
Testimony.” [I. S.])
It was reissued at Altdorph in 1674. [I. S.] ‘
\th)^ nten ir:n« D’nn ^’pivt nnx m^N> ^pv inn . . . ^3*n
yy r\t)p n n^nKsoKriD^K 5636 “i r« )p’>:)^m n”i» jkd r’tv h)i2V
(8°. 120 pp. [B. M.])
APPENDICES 187
dam,^ describing the model of Solomon’s Temple, and also that
of the Tabernacle of Moses, of which he had also constructed a
model. It was again on view here in the years 1759 and 1760.*
In 1778 it was in the possession of a Mr. M. P. Decastro, who
claimed to be a near relation of Haham de Leon. He exhibited
the model here, and translated and published the essay describing
it,^ which he tells us was ” First printed in Hebrew and
Spanish.”*
Leon Templo,^ as our Haham is at times referred to, is
supposed to have invented ” The Arms of y^ most Ancient &
Honorable Fraternity, of Free and Accepted Masons.” The
original drawing was seen by Laurence Dermott (1720-1791)
when he saw the model of the Temple in 1759-1760.® He also
wrote on the ” Cherubim ” and on the ” Ark of the Testimony.”
In 1671 he issued the Psalms in Hebrew, with a Spanish para-
phrase and notes . This was his last published work, in the preface
of which he teUs us that although he was then sixty-seven years
of age, he completed the work in seven months, at times that he
could spare from his tutorial duties. Four works in manuscript
are still unpublished. After his death, among his sketches were
^ A Relation | Of the most memorable thinges | In The Tabernacle j of
Moses, I And The | Temple of Salomon, |
A ccording to Text of Scripture. \
By Jacob Jehudah Leon, Hebr. |
Author of the Model of Salomon’s Temple. \
At Amsterdam, | Printed by Peter Messchaert, in the Stoof-steech, 1675. |
(4^0. ^11.-^27 pp.) [I.S.]
2 Ahiman Rezon, Or a help to all that are or would be Free and Accepted
Masons, . . . the Second Edition. By Lau Dermott. Secretary. . . . London,
1764. (8°. Eng. Frontis. 4- xxxvi. + 224 pp. [Quatuor Coronati Lodge
library]) p. xxxiv.
^ An Accurate Description Of the Grand and Glorious Temple of
Solomon. In which are briefly Explain’d,
i I. The Form of that Fabric.
II. The Vessels and Instruments belonging’thereto.
III. The King’s Palace.
IV.^ Fort Antonio, built for the Defence of the Temple.
First printed in Hebrew and Spanish at Middleburgh, By that celebrated
Architect, Jacob Juda Lyon, In The Year mdcxlii.
Translated by M. P. Decastro, (Proprietor of the said Model, and a near
Relation to the Author.)
London : Printed for the above Proprietor, by W. Bailey, Wellclose-
Square, m.dcc.lxxviii.
(8°. Eng. Frontis. [Jacobi Yehudae Leonis Hebraei . . . Salom Italia
Sculpsit] + 2 II. -\- iii pp. + i I. [etchings of " Temple," " Cherubim "]
+ 4^PP-) [I.S.]
See ” Jacob Jehudah Leon (Templo), by Israel Solomons,” Jewish
Chronicle, 30 Oct., 1903.
* The tract was first printed in Spanish and Dutch in 1642, and not
until 1650 did it appear in Hebrew.
‘ Templo was assumed as a surname by his descendants.
• Ahiman Rezon, ibid.
i88 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
found over two hundred designs to illustrate and elucidate Biblical
and Rabbinical passages. These his son Haham Solomon Raphael
{ob. 1733 circa) de Leon Templo presented to Willem Surenhuis,
who had them engraved for his edition of the Mishna^
Biographers do not seem to know when and where he died.
David Franco Mendes (1713-1792) tells us that after his London
visit he returned to Amsterdam, and although he gives a tran-
scription of his epitaph, consisting of eight lines of Hebrew
laudatory verse, no date is mentioned. ^ Dr. M. Kayserling
suggests that he died after 1675, that is after his London visit. ^
There is, however, good authority to surmise that he died in
London during his visit.
XXIII
Thesouro Dos Dinim
Thesovro Dos Dinim. . . . Composto por. Menasseh Ben Israel.
Estampado em casa de Eliahu Aboab. An. 5405.
(8°. 16 II. (one blank) +62^ pp. [in four sections])
*2 Muy Nobres, Magnificos, e Prudentes Senhores, Parnassim deste
Kaal Kados de Talmud Tor ah o S^ David Abarbanel Dormido,
Parnas da Sedaka, e Talmud Tora. . . . Menasseh ben Israel.
Amsterdam 15 de Hiyar, An. 5405. [b. m.]
Thesovro Dos Dinim ultima parte . . . Economica . . . Por
Menasseh Ben Israel.
Amsterda, na of&cina de Joseph ben Israel seufilho.^ 5407-
S^ 8 //. (one blank) -\-210 pp. +4 IL
A2. . . . Dedicatoria. Aos muy nobres, Magnificos e Prudites
Senhores, os Senhores Abrahd e Ishak Israel Pereyra. . . .
1 Mischna sive Totius Hebraeorum Juris, Rituum, Antiquitatum, ac
Legum Oralium Systema, . . . Guilielmus Surenhusius. . . . Amstelaedami,
. . . [1698-1703] (vi vols. /o/.)
(Franco) ♦JJ^DH by Vst ^1W>b HTin^ npr** ‘infi DSTTH JllibVI-
* Jewish Encyclopedia, 1904, vol. viii. p. i.
* The author, in his Nishmath Chayyim, 165 1, folio 103, bewails the
premature death of his son Joseph, the printer of this book. He was, he
tells us, a keen Talmudist, and had a perfect knowledge of four languages.
He had sent him on a voyage for the first time, and on returning to Amster-
dam from Dantzig was shipwrecked. On his second journey the following
year to Poland, on nearing Lublin, he died, being at the time about twenty
years of age.
APPENDICES 189
A3. Este sen intimo, e affei^oado amigo,
Hahd, Menasseh ben Israel
Amsterdam 12 de Tamuz, An. 5407. [b. m.]
The two parts of Thesouro dos Dinim were subsequently re-
issued in one volume : —
Amsterdam Anno 5470 (8°. 4+201+2//.)^ [i- s.]
XXIV
“Rettung der Juden,” by Manasseh Ben-Israel
Manasseh Ben Israel Rettung der Juden Aus dem Englischen
libersetzt.
Nebst einer Vorrede von Moses Mendelssohn.
Als ein Anhang zu des Hrn. Kriegsraths Dohm Abhandlung :
Ueber die biirgerliche Verbesserung der Juden. . . .
Berlin und Stettin bey Friedrich Nicolai. 1782.
(8°. lii +64 pp.) [I. s.]
* This second issue is rarer than the first : 5470 is a misprint for 5407.
ApUnaix XXV
7?.
U^eia^es from ^B^e.
Oftwomigkic Armies, afwell fox)tenicn as horfmentThe
firfl of the great Sophy, the other of an Hebrew people, till this time not difco*
nercd.commingfrom the Mountaincs of Cafpij, who pretend cheir warre is to
rccoocrthe Land of Promifc, Sc expcll the Turks out of Chrinendome. With
cheir multitude of Souldicrs^ & new invention of weapons.
Alfoccrlaino prophecies of a Tew fcruingco that Armie, called ^Ari Shiieske^
prognofucating many Orange accidents, which fhall happen
the following yeer e, 1607.
Tranflated out of Italian into Englifh, by W, W.
Pnmedbyl.R.forHcnrv Goffbn, and arc to be fold in Pater
From a rare tract lent by Mr. Israe* Socom0Hs.\
‘M^
»•» TO THE RENOWNED
Lord, Don Mathias de Rensie,
of Venice.
Fter the particular thinges alleaged
in my former writings vnto your
Lordshippe, I thought it good and
conuenient by this my Letter, to
aduertise your Lordship, of certaine
great, horrible, and fearefull things that hapned
in this quarter.
Purposing to certifie your Lordship of the pompe
and great triumph at the presenting of the Captaines
of the Sea, vnto the great Turke : the miserie and
vnhappines of the poore prisoners : the discorde &
contention that came by the sonne of the Vice Roy
of Naples, being prisoner : the threatnings made to
the Christians : the receiuing of the Ambassadors of
the Soffy : the pompes, tryumphes, and entertainments
made vnto them, and yet dissembled enough, with
mocking one the other at their departing : the presents
giuen : the going of the great Turke a hunting
and
A2
and all other thinges written at large, as your Lord-
ship shall vnderstand.
But now your Lordship shall vnderstand at thys
time, the greatest, the most wonderfull, and most
strange thing that euer was heard of. The which
partly hath so troubled the great Turke, and all
the rest, that they haue left of all other affayres, to
prouide for the perrill and danger that at this time
hangeth ouer theyr heads.
Your Lordships to vse,
Signior Valesco.
Newes from Rome.
The newes are come that the king of Hungarie maketh
a great Army, which shall haue for his ayde the gallies
of Buda, and of many other Princes of Christendome.
And they say moreouer, that the king of Bohemia will
helpe therein, and that the most part of Christian Princes
will come and ayde him in this enterprise against the
Turke, except the Signorie of Venice, which medleth
nothing at all in it. These reporters of newes affirme,
that there shal come aboue a hundred gallies, besides
other Barks, ships, & Hulkes without number, which
is occasion that they hasten the warre the more. Not-
withstanding, men esteeme not so much hereof, as of
the war that is made beyond the Mountaines, as you shall
understand not without wondering at it. The Tartars
make friendes upon the greater Sea, & haue made a
league & friendship with the great Turke, requiring
ayde, for they are molested with war by the great
Emperour of Muscouia, & prince of Sagodie, of Pogore,
of Smeiengie, of Drossy, of Gazam, of Virgoiosam, of Tartarie,
of Gil am, and of diuers other people and regions lying
toward the South : they say that this Emperor or Duke
hath two Armies, and is called iohn Dwatilio, a young
man, of the age of xxiiii. yeeres, noble and valiant, and
a Christian, after the institution of the Greekes, and
presumeth that by reason of his blood, the Empire of
Constantinople doth belong to him. And these two Armies
are about two hundred thousand horse.
They
A3
Newes from Rome.
noble and valiant, and
a Christian, after the institution of the Greekes, and
presumeth that by reason of his blood, the Empire of
Constantinople doth belong to him. And these two Armies
are about two hundred thousand horse.
They
A3
Newes from Rome.
They were not wont in time past to be so strong, nor
so feared of the Turks, for they had not the use of
artillarie in the warre : but nowe they haue meruailous
great preparation in theyr warre. Hee hath in wages
certaine Dutch Captaines, and about tenne thousand
Maister gunners, and is meruailously well furnished
with harquebushes, and artillery, and because men
understand that hee hath so vanquisht the Tartarians,
and brought the to such a state, that they cannot much
more resist him, and that if the saide Muscouite should
be maisters ouer the Tartars, they should consequently
be Rulers of the great sea, & the way should bee open
and easie for them to come, not onely to Constantinople,
but also to driue the Turke out of Europe : and because
that the saide great Turke is assured of this enterprise
and commotion of the Greekes : he hath cocluded and
determined, to send to the said Tartars a good assistance
of fifteene thousand fighting men, and also for this
purpose, hee hath sent to the sea ten Gallies to passe
them ouer.
Men make mention and doubt of Mondaccio which is
a great Prince and Ruler, and able to make foure score,
or a hundred thousand horse : and yet men are uncertaine
whose part he will take, because hee is tributarie unto the
great Turke.
There is newes also from Africa, that the king of
Bugierjy the king Tramecej the king of TuniSy the children
of Serif. The Lord of Muroctio^ and of Gran, with the
Arabians and other, haue taken in hand to driue and
expulse the turke wholy out of Affrioa^ & to endomage
him as much as they may. Men know not yet in what
place they will war, but we shall know it shortly. The
newes also is, that the Soffie is in Campe with a great
Armie,
Newes from Rome.
Armie, and hath the Medes to helpe him, which border
upon the Caspian Sea, and of one side neighbour to the
Hi roans, called at this day Correxans and Zecatans, with
whom he hath made a league and peace. There are on
his side also the Ibelans and Albians, and also the people
of Melibar, which harbor upo the Indians, and likewise
with the king of Bosphorus, all beeing people meruailous
swift and nimble. In this so mightie an host and armie,
is also Basoet the sonne of the great Turke, by meanes
whereof, all in those parts is in great trouble, as well as
heere. It seemeth that the lenissaries bring him the lot
of Turkie, as Baduget, Zermonia, Alepo, and all the Regions
lying neere to the Soffl is reuolted, all the which particu-
larities shall be understoode more at large.
This newes is great, and hath made the great turke to
muse enough upon it, but aboue all these meruelous and
dreadfull newes which are hapned, there is yet chaunced
another, which hath greatly feared & abashed all men,
which although it seemeth to be incredible, yet upon my
credit it is most true, and that is, that a people heretofore
unknowne, mighty, swift, and meruelous nimble, hath
taken weapon in hand, to the disaduantage and losse of
the house of Ottoman. They say that Alexander the
great did in time past driue beyond the mountaine
Gaspe nine tribes and a halfe of the Hebrewes which
worshipped the Calfe & Serpent of gold, and draue
them away, that neuer since there was no newes of
them, neither knewe any man if they were in the worlde
or not : because the Sea of sand, or the sandie sea, by
a certaine inconuenience of sand Grauel or Beche,
swelled & rose so high, that it utterly tooke from
them the way into this our Region. But now by
the
Neives from Rome.
the meane of the newe Nauigation that y« Hollanders
haue made, they are arriued in their country, and haue
espied out all their dooings : and after y^ the said
Hollanders had instructed and taught them in the science
and knowledge of artillery, and gun = pouder for Harque-
bushes and dags, whereunto they are meruelous apt and
ready, they are become in all thinges perfit. After this
they egged them forward to take weapon in hand, and
passe the saide mountaine by Land. And because the
sandy sea did hinder their passage, it appeareth y* some
Duchman or Italian, which yet men knowe not, but
notwithstanding some great Astrologian or Cosmographer
taught them the way, making some hill plaine with fire,
whereby they might easilie passe, which is a thing of
great wonder.
These people haue two mighty great armies, and
infinite store of victualls, by reason of the fruitfulnesse
of theyr country, they are also well prouided of all
manner of preparation for war, & cunning in the
practise of theyr weapons. They say they will come &
recouer the land of Promise, towards the which the first
army is already very neere, to the great terror and dread
of euery man which hath either seene or heard of them.
The spyes which haue been sent out by the great turke
to discry them, doe affirme, that beside a hundred and
two armies, there foUowe an infinite number of people,
as well footmen as horsemen, and theyr first armie is
already arriued upon the limmits of Turkie, putting
all to fire and sword. Theyr language is bastard
Hebrew : & because men speake much of it heere,
I will not forget to speake also something thereof
woorthy to be noted, and well understoode : The
Hebrewes of Constantinople say, that they haue certaine
prophecies
Newes from Rome.
prophesies, among the which one maketh mention,
that from the foure parts of the world, shall rise a
people, and come into Gog and Magog, and then shall
appeare (as they perswade themselues) their Messias in
might and power, and then they shall haue dominion
and rule in the world, whereof they secretly reioyce, &
are wonderous glad. They say moreouer, that there is
a prophecie grauen in a piller set at Podromo which saith
thus : A mightie Prince shall rise, whose beginning shall
be of small reputation, who by his Issue shal war of
such force and strength (with the helpe of God) that he
shall bring to nothing, the empire and rule of Ottoman,
and shal be the right possessour and inheritor of the
Empire of Constantinople, & they beleeue all that it shall
be this Emperor and duke of Muscouia, which is alreadie
in great estimation among the Greeks.
The Turks haue a prophecie, which they sing often,
and weepe bitterlie the while, for it betokeneth and
denounceth unto them, their utter ruine and destruction.
And although it seeme strange, to say that the Turkes
haue prophecies, it is no meruaile : for Balam was a false
Prophet : the Sybilles also prophecied and were Pagans.
For all these causes the great Turke hath forbidden wine
& will that all men goe fiue times in a day to the Moscheay
and pray to God for theyr health and saftie. And so hee
prepareth three great armies, one against the Muscouites,
another against the Soffie, and the third for to goe against
the Hebrewes of the Mountaines of Caspij, Within these
fewe dayes you shall haue other newes, wherefore thus
making an end, I commend me unto your good Lordship :
from Rome, the first day of June, 1606. Your faithfull
and trustie seruant, Signlor Valesco.
The
B
Newes from Rome.
The description of the first Armie, condufited
by Zoroam a lew, Captaine generall
of the Armies.
First of all a Jew, of verie great stature, of a fleshlie
colour, more red then otherwise, with broad eyes, called
Zoroam t is Captaine generall of all the Armies, hee leadeth
under his Ensigne twelue thousand horse, and twenty
thousand footmen. The horsemen are armed after a
light sort, but very good Harnes, almost after our
fashion : they carrie Launces of long Reedes, very hard
and light, yet so sharpe pointed, that they passe thorowe
a thing with incredible lightnesse : they carrie also
shields or targets of bone, and in steede of swords, they
use certaine Courtilaxes.
They are apparrelled with the colour of their Ensigne,
and all clothed with silke : the foote-men carrie Pikes of
the same sort, with Helmet and Habergin : their Ensigne
is of iblacke silke and blew, with a dog following a Hart,
or Bucke, and a saying written in it, which is in our
language thus : Either quick or dead.
2. Of the Armie of Don Phares.
There is one called Phares, which is an Earle, yong
and valiant, not regarding this present life : this man
hath under his commaund fifteene hundred horsemen
armed lightly, onely on the fore-part and head-peece:
yet this Armour is so well tempered and wrought, that
it keepeth out a Launce and Harquebush shot.
This
Newes from Rome.
This manner of arming themselues, is to the intent
they may neuer turne their backe to runne awaie : they
have also fierce and light horses : there are eighteene
thousand footemen, apparrelled with a kinde of sodden
leather, made of the skinne of a certaine beast, so that
no pike nor harquebush can pearse it. These men are
beastlie people, & will neuer flie for any thing, they are
very obedient and subiect unto their Prince, and their
ordinarie apparell is silke. The Ensigne that they beare,
is a falcon pecking or billing with another bird, with a
sentence that saith, Either thine or mine shall breake.
3. Of the Marquesse of Galair.
There is a Marquesse of Galair called Goes, this man
leadeth fifteen hudred men of armes, which be all ex-
ceeding well armed & stout, strong, and rebust men :
their horses are moriskes, the greatest, the strongest,
the fairest, and the best that bee in the world : there are
also seuenteene thousand souldiers, very wel appointed
with Launce and harquebush : theyr Ensigne or armes
is a redde field, with a maid clothed in greene, holding
a Lion in her hand, with these words / hope to subdue a
greater thing.
4. Of the Duke of Falach.
There is a Duke of Falach, called Obeth^ who hath under
his conduct xx. thousand footemen, armed with a certaine
mettall like yron, but it is light and hard, they have many
good swords, launces, and other force, harquebushes,
and wiflers : their Ensigne or armes, is a mermaid in a
blacke field, and the deuise thus, My singing shall not
cease until I the end.
The
B2
Newes from Rome.
The description of tiie Armie conducted by
Oaptaine Nauison.
There is a captaine called Nauison, which hath under him
XX. thousand men, appointed and armed with the skin
of a serpent, most hard & stiffe, they haue Axes, pollaxes,
pikes, harquebushes, and other kind of weapons : their
Ensigne or armes, is a white snaile in a blacke fielde,
with a deuise about it, By tittle and little, men goe very fane.
Of the tribe of Simeon there is a Prince of Arsay, whose
name is not yet knowne, but they say he is a deuill, great,
grosse, & thicke beyond measure, with a flat nose, and
both he and his men are of the stature of Giants : he
leadeth with him xx. thousand footemen, almost all
Alfiers, which are also so swift & nimble that they will
take horses running : they make a meruailous noise,
such as no people use: their Ensigne is an Lute in a
blacke field, and haue for their posy, Suctt is my gouern-
ment,
6. Of the Duhe of Barsalda.
There is a duke of Barsalda, and he is the conducter
of xiii, thousand footmen, which are all Harquebushers,
& carry no fire matches, but strike it with a stone :
they are apparrelled & armed with such a hard kind of
leather, and so enchaunted, that no yron weapon in the
world is able to perse it thorow. They bee also very swift
and light : their Ensigne or armes, is a dry tree in a blew
field, and their deuise thus, / hope to spread, and be greene
againe.
7. Of the Armie of the Duke Passill.
There is a duke of Passill called Abia, he hath under
his conduct a thousand footmen, very cruell, hauing
all kind of weapons to push or pricke far off,
and
Newes from Rome.
and to strike nigh, but farre different from ours, they
are very expert in artificial! fire, and make the greatest
and most dreadfull thinges withall y^ a man can imagin :
they do it either by arte or enchauntment, so that it
seemeth that it raigneth fire upon their enemies, and
yet notwithstanding Jiurteth not themselves at all, by
reason they are apparalled with a certaine Serpents
skin which preserueth them. Their Ensigne is a Cat
holding a Rat in her paw in a blacke fielde, and theyr
posie thus, Euen so hapneth it to him t/iat is not gouerned.
8. Of the Army conducted by the Earle
of Albary,
There is an Erie of Aibary called Orut, which hath under
his gouernaunce a thousand horse-men with Crosse-
bowes, some of them weare certaine light armour of a
kind of hard mettall, with Rapyers and daggers after
theyr manner, they fight alwayes running and their horses
are so swift that it is wonderfull. This man also hath
XX. thousand horses barbed with very fine leather.
Some carry pikes & Partisans, & such like weapons.
Their Ensigne or armes is a man in chaines, in a field
parted halfe with greene and purple, and this deuise
withall, % chaines shall bind another man,
9. Of the l^arquesse of l/orio.
There is a Marques of l/orio called Manasses, who
hath under his conduct xvii thousand footemen,
armed with a very hard & strong leather, which men
beleeue to be enchaunted, because that no weapon nor
harquebush is able to perse it thorowe, yet it is as
light
B3
Neives from Rome.
light as Linnen cloth, and a thing very fayre to see to.
These now haue all sorts of weapons that an Armie
may haue : and they are deuided and set in a very faire,
comely, and decent order: their Ensigne is an old man
in a chariot, in a blacke field, saying thus, After a long
iourney, I shall be happy,
Caleb Shilock his prophesie, for the
yeere, 1607,
Be it knowne unto all men, that in the yeere 1607, when
as the Moone is in the watrie signe, the world is like to
bee in great danger : for a learned Jew, named Caleb
Shilock, doth write, that in the foresaid yeere, the Sun
shall be couered with the Dragon in the morning, from
fiue of the clocke untill ^nine, and will appeare like
fire : therefore it is not good that any man doe
behold the same, for by beholding thereof he may lose
his sight.
Secondly, there shall come in the same yeere a mer-
uailous great flood of water, to the great terror and
amasement of many people.
Thirdly, there shall arise a meruailous great wind, and
for feare thereof many people shall be consumed, or
distraughted of their wits.
Fourthlie the same yeere, about the month of May,
will arise another wonderfull great flood, and so great as
no man hath seene since Noyea flood, which wil continue
three dales and three nights, whereby many Citties and
Townes which standeth uppon sandie ground will be in
great danger.
Piftly,
Newes from Rome.
Fiftly, Infidels and Hereticks, through great feare and
dread, will flie, and gather together, and asmuch as in
them lies, make war against Christian princes.
Sixtlie, in the same yeere after the great waters be
past, about the end of the yeere will be very great and
fearefull Sicknesses : so that many people are like to die
by the infection of strange diseases.
Seauenthly, there will be throughout the Worlde great
trouble and contention about matters of Religion, and
wonderfull strange newes unto all people, as concerning
the same.
Eightly, the Turke with his God Mahomet shall be in
danger to lose his Septer, through the great change and
alteration in his Regiment, by reason of famine and warres,
so that the most part of his people will rather seeke
reliefe from the Christian, then from him.
Ninthlie, there will also arise great Earth = quakes,
whereby diuers goodly buildings & high houses, are like
to be ouerthrowne and ruinated.
Lastlie, there will be great remoouings of the earth
in diuers places, so that for feare thereof, many people
will be in a strange amazement and terror.
These punishments are prognosticated by this learned
Jew, to fall uppon the whole world by reason of sinne,
wherefore it behooueth all Christian to amend their euill
Hues, and to pray earnestly unto God to with = hold these
calamities from us, and to conuart our harts wholy to
him, whereby we may find fauour in our time of neede,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
FINIS.
COLLATION
A-B in fours ; Black letter, with the exception of title-page and
introductory leaf; Lowndes, p. 2749 notes “Valesco, S. Jewes
Prophecy, &c. Halliwell, May, 1856, imprint cut into ;^ 10-5-0:
No other copy known.” This is now in the British Museum, the
fore edge of which is badly cropped, the name ” Shilocke ” on the
title-page being cut down to ” Shilo^ As in this copy, the imprint
is cut off after ” Pater,” but there is just visible the top edge of
the next line, which may be “noster rowe at the signe of the
Sunne,” but no indication of a date. These are the only two copies
known of this remarkable tract. To students of Shakespeare, it
is of considerable interest. James Orchard Halliwell-Phillips,
formerly Halliwell (i 820-1 889), the great Shakespearean scholar,
in his introduction to the Merchant of Venice (Halliwell’s Shake-
speare, vol. v., p. 277 : London, 1853) maintains that the name of
the predominant character of the play suggested itself to the author,
from this tract. [Notes and Queries, los. ix. 269. April 4, 1908.]
206
APPENDICES 207
XXVI
“The World’s Great Restauration,” by Sir Henry Finch
The I Worlds | Great ReStavration. | Or | The Calling Of | The
levves, and (with them) | of all the Nations and King- \ domes of
the earth, to the faith | of Christ. |
Published by William Gouge, B. of D. and | Preacher of Gods Word
in Black-fryers, London. \
London | Printed by Edward Griffin for | William Bladen, and are
to be sold at his Shop | neare the great North dore of Pauls, at the
signe I of the Bible. 1621. |
(4to. 7 //.+234 Z’^. + i 1-) [I. s.]
This work has a second title page : —
‘* The Calling of the levves. | A | Present | To Ivdah And | The
Children Of | Israel that ioyned with him, | and to loseph (the
valiant tribe | of Ephraim) and all the \ house of Israel that |
ioyned with him. |
The Lord giue them grace, that they | may returne and seeke
lehovah | their God, and David their \ King, in these latter dayes.|
There is prefixed an Epistle vnto them, | written for their sake in
the Hebrue tongue, ^ | and translated into English. |
Published by William Gouge, B. of D. and | Preacher of Gods word
in Blackefryers. London. \
London I Printed by Edward Griffin for | William Bladen, and are
to be sold at his Shop | neare the great North dore of Pauls,
at the signe | of the Bible. 162 1.” |
1 The Hebrew epistle referred to is a translation by the author of a
section of this title page. It is printed by itself on one of the preliminary
leaves in somewhat archaic characters, and reads as follows : —
nDV’?i innn Snt^* onSi min^S
riNi Dn^ni>x nin’* n^ ^J^^? -rn DiDr
Nn^” ^ ^» inn
a Jeremiah xxxi. 10. h Genesis xxxii. 19. c Ezekiel xxxvii. 16.
d Proverbs iii. 4. e Hosea iii. 5. / Amos iii. 8.
The British Museum, and the Mocatta Library, in University College,
have copies, without the first title page (The Worlds Great Restauration)
and Gouge’s preliminary leaf ” To the Reader.” Probably issued in this
state after the incarceration of Finch and Gouge.
2o8 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
XXVII
” The World’s Great Restauration ” {continued).
Contemporary reference to the book is to be found in letters
from the Rev. Joseph Mead (Mede) (1586-1638), the eminent
bibHcal scholar, to Sir Martin Stuteville.
(B. M. Add. 4176 : 121, 123-6.)
Christ’s College Cambr. March 31.
Sr. 1621.
“. . . S^ Henry Finch was last week examined before the High
Commission about the book I wrote of, but wonderful privately.
He gave up his answer in writing, ^ was sent to the King, &
expected from him what should be his censure. …”
Christ’s College, Apr. 7 [1621]
Sr
… 7 have seen S” Henry Finch’s The World’s Great restaura-
tion, or Calling of the Jews, & with them of all the Nations of the
Earth, to the Faith of X^- I cannot see but for the main of the
discourse I might assent unto him. God forgive me, if it be a sin ;
but I have thought so many a day. But the thing, which troubles
His Majesty, is this point, which I will write out for you verbatim ;
” The Jews & all Israel shall return to their land & antient Seats,
conquer their foes, have their Soil more fruitfull than ever. They
shall erect a glorious Church in the Land of Judah it self & bear
rule far and near.” . . . We need not be afraid to aver and maintain,
that one day they shall come to Jerusalem again ; be Kings &
chief Monarchs of the Earth ; sway & govern all, for ihe glory of
X* ; that shall shine amongst them. And that is it Lactantius
saith Lib. 7. Cap. 15. The Romans name I will speak it, because
i t must one day be shall be taken from the Earth, & the Empire
shall return to Asia. And again shall the East bear dominion
& the West be in subjection.” In another place Ashur & Egypt,
all these large & vast Countries, the whole tract of the East &
South, shall be converted to Christ ; the chief Sway & sovreignty
remaining with the Jews. All nations shall honour them.
Some say, the King says, he shall be a pure King, & he is so
auld that he cannot tell how to do his homage at Jerusalem.
This with my best respect.
Yours ever,
Joseph Mead.^
^ This letter has been transcribed, somewhat inaccurately in ” The
Court and Times of James the First ; . . . [Robert Folkestone Williams.]
. . . London : . . . 1848. Vol. ii., pp. 250-251. It is also to be found in
(Notes & Queries, 2nd S. xi. 127., Feb. 16, 1861) ” Modern Apocr5^hal
Apocalypse,” by Moses Margoliouth, ll.p., ph.d.
APPENDICES 209
Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, James 1. 1619-1623.
. , . Edited by Mary Anne Everett Green. . . . London . . .
1851.
p. 247 April 18 ? (1621)
96. Petition of Sir Hen. Finch to the King. Disclaims the
opinion which His Majesty thinks is asserted in his book ;
is sorry for having written so unadvisedly; begs liberty
and restoration to favour.
p. 248 April 18, 162 1 London :
Chamberlain [to Carleton.]
97. … Serjeant Finch is committed for his book on the con-
version of the Jews.
xxvni
Philip Ferdinandus
The Jew referred to was Philip Ferdinandus (1555 ?-i598), a
native of Poland. He was converted to Roman Catholicism, but
afterwards became a Protestant. He taught Hebrew at Oxford,
and subsequently at Cambridge (d.n.b.).
His only publication is entitled : —
Hcec sunt verba Dei, etc. \
Praecepta In Monte Sinai | data ludaeis sunt 613, quorum 365
negativa, & 248 af- 1 firmativa, collecta per Pharisaeum Magistrum
Abraha- | mum filium Kattani, & impressa in Bibliis Bomber- 1
giensibus, anno a mundo creato 5288 Vene- 1 tiis, ab Authore vox
DEI appellata : |
translata in linguam Latinam per Phi- \ lippum Ferdinandum
Polonum. I
His accesserunt nonnulla qucB sequens pa- \ gina indicahit. \
Lex Dei integra est, Psal. 19. |
Aperi oculos meos, vt videam mirabilia legis iuce.\
Vocem audivistis, et similtudinem non vidistis, \ prcefer vocem,
Deut. 4. 12. 1
Vox Dei semel data est per Mosem in monte Sinai. |
Sed similitudinem videre. i. arcana, singulis diebus da- 1 tur. Ex
Hazoar. \
Cum licentia omnium primariorum virorum in in- 1 clyta &
celeberrima Cantabrigiensi Academia.
Cantabrigiae, | Ex ofhcina lohannis Legat. 1597.I
(4/0. 3 //. + A-H. in fours.) [b. m.]
II.— p
210 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
XXIX
Petition of the Jewes
Johanna & Ebenezer Cart [en] [w] right
The I Petition | Of The | Jewes | For the Repeahng of the Act of |
ParUament for their banishment | out of England.]
Presented to his Excellency and the | general! Councell of Officers
on I Fry day Jan. 5. 1648. | With their favourable acceptance
thereof. \
Also a Petition of divers Comman- 1 manders, (sic) prisoners in
the Kings I Bench, for the releasing of all pri- | soners for Debt,
according to | the Custome of other | Countries. |
London, Printed for George Roberts, 1649. |
{4to.1L +6 pp.) [I.S.]
sig. A. 2. ” To the Right Honourable, Thomas Lord Fairfax,
(His Excellency) Englanes (sic) Generall, And The Honour-
able Councel of Warre, Conveaned for Gods Glory, Izraells
Freedom, Peace, and Safety, The humble Petition of Johanna
Cartenright, Widdow, and Ebenezer Cartwright her Son,
freeborn of England, and now Inhabitants of the City of
Amsterdam.”
sig. A. 3. ” This Petition was presented to the generall Councell of
the Officers of the Army, under the Command of his Excellency,
Thomas Lord Fairfax, at Whitehall on Ian. 5. And favour-
ably received with a promise to take it into speedy consideration,
when the present more publike affaires are dispatched.*”^
XXX
“The Messiah Already Come,” by John Harrison
The I Messiah | Already Come. | . . .
Written in Barbaric, in the yeare 1610, and for that cause
directed | to the dispersed lewes of that Countrie, and in them
to all others now groaning under the heauy | yoake of this their
long and intoUerable captivitie, which yet one day shall have an
end : . . .
Amsterdam, | Imprinted by Giles Thorp. Anno M.DC,xix. |
(4^.5//. +68 /)/>.) [B. M.]
sig. A3. — To The High And Mighty Prince Frederick King of
Bohemia, &c. . . . This Treatise was published seven yeares
^ American Elements in the Re-settlement. By Lucien Wolf. (Trans-
actions of the Jewish Historical Society of England, vol. iii. i8g6-8. . . .
London, . . . 1899. . . . p. 87.)
APPENDICES 211
agoe and Printed in the Low Countries. . . . Your Ma**®^
most humble devoted seruant lohn Harrison.^
XXXI
” Discourse of Mr. John Dury to Mr. Thorowgood— Jewes in
America,” by Tho. Thorowgood— “Americans no Jews,” by
Hamon l’Estrange
An Epistolicall Discourse Of Mr. lohn Dury, To Mr. Thorowgood.
Concerning his conjecture that the Americans are descended from
the IsraeHtes. With the History of a Portugall lew, Antonie
Monterinos, {sic) attested by Manasseh Ben Israel, to the same
effect. . . . Your faithfull friend and fellow-labourer in the Gospel
of Christ. J. Dury, St. lames, this 27 Ian. 1649.
(sig. D-E, in fours.) 50.
This will be found in the preliminary leaves of : —
levves in America, | Or, | Probabilities | That the Americans are
of I that Race. 1 2
” The Epistle to the Reader ” is dated Mar. 30. 1651.
With the removall of some | contrary reasonings, and earnest
de- 1 sires for effectuall endeavours to | make them Christian. |
Proposed by Tho : Thorowgood, B.D. one of the | Assembly of
Divines. | . . .
London, Printed by W. H. for Tho. Slater, and are to be sold | at
his shop at the signe of the Angel in Duck lane, 1650. |
{4to. 22 II. +139 PP-) [I. s.]
The Imprimatur signed lohn Downame is dated Septem. 4. 1649.
pp. i29-(i39) contain ” The Relation of Master Antonie Mon-
terinos, {sic) translated out of the French Copie sent by
Manasseh Ben Israel. … J. Dvry Received this at London,
27 of Novem. 1649.”
This was the affidavit of Montezinos, superscribed by Manasseh
Ben Israel, sent to John Dury at his particular request.
1 It appeared again under the following title : —
A Vindication Of The Holy Scriptures. . . .
By that Learned, and late Eminent Divine John Harrison.
London . . . 1656.
(i2mo. 11 II. -\- 1 50 pp. -{- 1 I.) [i. s.]
2 A reply was made to this tract : —
Americans no lewes, ] Or | Improbabilities that the | Americans are of
that race | • . .
By Hamon l’Estrange, K*. |
London, | Printed by W. W. for Henry Seile over against | St. Dunstans
Church in Fleetstreet. 1652. |
(4/0. 2ll.^%opp.) [I. s.]
212 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
XXXII
“Whether it be Lawful to Admit Jews into a Christian
Commonwealth,” by John Dury
A I Case | Of | Conscience, | Whether it be lawful to admit Jews \
into a Christian Common-wealth ? |
Resolved By | M’ John Dury : | Written To | Samuel Hartlih,
Esquire. |
London, | Printed for Richard Wodenothe, in Leaden-Hall street, |
next to the Golden Heart, 1656. |
(4to. il.+gpp.) [I. s.]
p. 9 : “. . . Sir ! Your most affectionate and faithful servant
. . . John Dury. Cassell, in haste, Januarie 8 1656.”^
XXXIII
“Life and Death of Henry Jessey”
The I Life and Death | of | Mr. Henry Jessey, | Late Preacher of
the Gospel of | Christ in London ; | Who, having finished his
Testimony, was | Translated the ^th day of September, 1663. |
Written for the benefit of all, especially such as | were acquainted
with his godly conversation, | and Pertakers of his unwearied
Labours in | the Lord.|
With an Elegy upon the Death of Mr. | William Bridg. | . . .
Anno Domini 1671. |
(8°. ^ll.-\-’LoSpp.) [b. M.]
The author is unknown, but page 97 bears the initials ** E. W.”
p. ^7 : ” Towards the Jews his Charity was famous beyond
President and many ways exprest, . . .”
p. 69 : ** 3. His Charity was most eminently shewn to them in the
great Collections, which through his importunity was made
for the poor Jews at Jerusalem, who were reduced to extream
poverty and misery ; having lost, by reason of the Swedish
Navies Wars, 15000000 of Rix Dollers ; which their
brethren of Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, and Prussia, were
wont to send them yearly, for the maintenance of learned
Rabbies and Students, and for the relief of antient Widows
and decripid men, and other necessitous people, with which
the Holy-Land doth abound ; who (as we said) by cutting
off their subsist ance were brought (in 1657) into great
* John Dury and the English Jewry. By the Rev. S. Levy, m.a.
(Transactions of the Jewish liistorical Society of England, vol. iv. 1899-
190X. . . . London. . . . 1903. . . . pp. 76-82.)
APPENDICES 213
extremity, not only of Famine and nakednesse (that of
700 Widows, 400 were famished out-right) but also by the
imprisonment and scourgings of their Elders and Rabbyes,
by their cruell Creditors, being the principal men of the Land
to whom the Jews were indebted 20000 Rialls of Eight,
which if the Ryall be 4 s. 8^. a piece, it is 4666/. 13s. 4^. for
the liberty of dwelling there, etc. which they extorted with
great rigor and exaction, resolving to sell them all for slaves,
in case payment was not speedily made.”
p. 70: “This befel the onely then Germane Jews at
Jerusalem, for the Congregation of Portugal Jews were
relieved by the Alms of their Rich Brethren in Portugal.”
p. 70: “4. The only Anchor the miserable Wretched and
distressed Persons had, was to Implore succour from their
Brethren in other parts, to which end they sent Letters to
Venice, Amsterdam, and by Rahbie Nathan Levita, an Elder,
and Cabalist : But all they got from them served only for
payment of Interest of Debts : so that they had still perished,
if the bowels of Christians in Holland, had not compassion-
ated their State, who sent them 500. Rix Dollars, and by
Letters did earnestly press Mr. H. J. to further a Collection
in England.
” To which he made some demurs till he obtained full
satisfaction of the truth of the Relation, and certainty of
safe conveyance of the money that Charity might not be
abused ; for the first, the Messengers from Jerusalem brought
Commissions signed by their Elders, which Commissions
were sent to the Synagogues in Germany, and in the Nether-
lands to be examined ; who assured that they knew the
hands, and that those men would not subscribe to an un-
truth, and that they themselves had contributed upon the
same Information.
” And as for Conveyance, two Noted Merchants of
Francford, would return the mony, and give Bond for so
much ; till they procure a Receipt from the Elders of
Jerusalem, as they had done for the above named summe of
500. Rix Dollars ; and had a Letter returned from Jerusalem
to the Charitable Christians of Amsterdam, both in way of
Receipt and Gratitude with Original Hebrew Letter with the
Messengers, Commissioners, and other necessar}?’ Instructions
being sent to Mr. Jessey, removed all scruples, so that im-
mediatly informed divers London Ministers, by whose
assistance, together with his own private Friends and
Interest, the some of 300/. Sterling was in short time
gathered and sent, and a Bill of Receipt, with thankfulness
returned : some of it being also sent to distressed lews at
Vilna and other places in Po/awt^. ”
214 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
p, 6y : ” When their hberty of returning and trading in
England (as they did in Germany, Poland, Russia, Portugal,
Netherlands etc.) was moved, disputed and debated for and
against ; He laboured that it might be granted, with such
Umitations, (as our Merchants yielded unto, viz) that they
should be seated in some decayed Port Towns, and pay
Custome for Goods, thence transported into other parts of
the Nation, besides what they should pay there for exporting
English, and importing forreign Commodities : such a toller-
ating of their trade might not onely be beneficial several ways
to our selves, but be some satisfaction for the unhandsome
dealings of our Nation against that people in the days of
King Rich. I. King John and Edward the first, for the space
of 100 years till their final Banishment, An. Dom. 1290. with
those circumstances of cruelty, that our own Histories do
not seem to approve of ; . . .”
XXXIV
“The Glory of Jehudah and Israel— De Heerlichkeydt . .
VAN JEHUDA EN ISRAEL,” BY HENRY JESSE.
The Glory of Jehudah and Israel is referred to in the concluding
paragraph of ” The Humble Addresses/’
Manasseh Ben Israel writes : —
“… Now, having prooved the two former Points, I could
adde a third, viz. of the Nobility of the lewes : but because that
Point is enough known amongst all Christians, as lately yet it
hath bene most worthily and excellently shewed and described
in a certain Booke, called. The Glory of lehudah and Israel,
dedicated to our Nation by that worthy Christian Minister Mr.
Henry lessey, (1653. in Dutch) where this matter is set out at
large : . . .”
“The Life and Death Of M”" Henry Jessey,” page 79:
“… Mr. H. J. seconded his Almes with divers Consolatory
Letters to the dispersed seed of Jacob, having before in 1650.
wrote a compleat Treatise yet extant, and called (the glory &
Salvation of Jehudah, and Israel) tending towards the reconcilia-
tion of Jews and Christians, . . .”
J. C. Wolf, in his Bihliothecce Hehrceae, 1733, vol. iv., p. 901,
in his biography of Manasseh Ben Israel, incidentally refers to
” De HeerUckheid en heyl van Jehuda en Israel ” written in
Flemish (Belgice) by Henr. Jesse.
It is apparently very rare, the only copy that has been traced
is mentioned in ” Catalogue De La BibUotheque de literature
APPENDICES 215
hebraique et orient ale et d’Auteurs hebreux De Feu M^ Leon V.
Saraval Trieste . . . 1853. “^ [i. s.]
N°. 619 ” Jesse Henry de Heerlichkeydt en Heyl van Jehuda
en Israel (en langue flamande, traduit de Tanglais.) Amst.
1653 in 8° . . . tres-rare. …”
XXXV
Of the Late Proceeds at White-Hall, concerning
THE Jews [Henry Jesse]
A I Narrative | Of the late Proceeds at | White-Hall, | Concerning
The I Jews : | Who had desired by R. Manasses \ an agent for them,
that they might return to | England, and Worship the God of
their Fa- 1 thers here in their Synagogues, etc. |
Published for satisfaction to many in several parts of Eng- \ land,
that are desirous, and inquisitive to hear the | Truth thereof.
London : | Printed for L: Chapman, at the Crown in Popes-
head- Alley. 1656. 1
(4to. I I +14 pp.)^ [I. s.]
p, II : “Here followeth part of a Letter written at Ligorn, 1652.
and sent by the Preacher in the Phoenix Frigot, to a friend in
London.
Ligorn, aboard the Phoenix, 19 of the 1, 1652.
Dear Brethren : . . .”
p. 12′. k Postscript, To fill up the following Pages, that else
had been vacant : Containing,
1 The Proposals of R. Manasses ben Israel, more fully.
2 Part of his Letter written Anno 1647.
3 The late progress of the Gospel amongst the Indians in
New-England.
A translation appeared in : —
Neue Schwarmgeister=Brut Oder Historische Erzehlung . . .
IV. Die Wieder^^Einnehmung der Juden in Engeland
v Die Bekehrung der Indianer in New= Engeland . . .
Gedrukkt im Jahr 1661. pp. 189-223.
(8°. 24II. +223 pp. +1 1.) [I. s.]
^ In 1853 the Saraval library was purchased for the Breslau seminary.
2 A translation appeared in : —
Neue Schwarmgeister =Brut Oder Historische Erzehlung. . . .
IV. Die Wicder =Einnehmung der Juden in Engeland
V. Die Bekehrung der Indianer in New = Engeland . . .
Gedrukkt im Jahr 1661. pp. 189-223.
(8°. 2^ll.+223Pp.-\-il.) [I. s.]
21b THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
XXXVI
Bishop Thomas Newton and the Restoration of Israel
” The preservation of the Jews is really one of the most signal
and illustrious acts of divine Providence. They are dispersed
among all nations, and yet they are not confounded with any.
The drops of rain which fall, nay the great rivers which flow into
the ocean, are soon mingled and lost in that immense body of
waters : and the same in all human probability would have been
the fate of the Jews, they would have been mingled and lost in
the common mass of mankind ; but, on the contrary they flow
into all parts of the world, mix with all nations, and yet keep
separate from all. They still live as a distinct people, and yet
they no where live according to their own laws, no where elect
their own magistrates, no where enjoy the full exercise of their
religion. … No people have continued unmixed so long as they
have done, not only of those who have sent forth colonies into
foreign countries, but even of those who have abided in their own
country. The northern nations have come in swarms into the
more southern parts of Europe ; but where are they now to be
discerned and distinguished ? The Gauls went forth in great
bodies to seek their fortune in foreign parts ; but what traces or
footsteps of them are now remaining any where ? In France
who can separate the race of the ancient Gauls from the various
other people, who from time to time have settled there ? In
Spain who can distinguish exactly between the first possessors
the Spaniards, and the Goths, and the Moors, who conquered and
kept possession of the country for some ages ? In England who
can pretend to say with certainty which families are derived from
the ancient Britons, and which from the Romans, or Saxons, or
Danes, or Normans ? The most ancient and honorable pedigrees
can be traced up only to a certain period, and beyond that there
is nothing but conjecture and uncertainty, obscurity and ignor-
ance : but the Jews can go up higher than any other nation,
they can even deduce their pedigree from the beginning of the
world. They may not know from what particular tribe or family
they are descended, but they know certainly that they all sprung
from the stock of Abraham. And yet the contempt with which
they have been treated, and the hardships which they have under-
gone in almost all countries, should one would think, have made
them desirous to forget or renounce their original ; but they
profess it, Ihey glory in it : and after so many wars, massacres,
and persecutions, they still subsist, they still are very numerous :
and what but a sujxjrnatural power could have preserved them
in such a manner as none other nation upon earth hath been
preserved ?
” Nor is the providence of God less remarkable in the destruc-
APPENDICES 217
tion of their enemies, than in their preservation. For from the
beginning who have been the great enemies and oppressors of the
Jewish Nation, removed them from their own land, and com-
pelled them into captivity and slavery ? The Egyptians afflicted
them much, and detained them in bondage several years. The
Assyrians carried away captive the ten tribes of Israel, and the
Babylonians afterwards the two remaining tribes of Judah and
Benjamin. The Syro-Macedonians, especially Antiochus Epi-
phanes, cruelly persecuted them : and the Romans utterly dis-
solved the Jewish state, and dispersed the people so as they have
never been able to recover their city and country again. And
where are now these great and famous monarchies, which in their
turns subdued and oppressed the people of God ? Are they not
vanished as a dream, and not only their power, but their very
names, lost in the earth ? The Egyptians, Assyrians, and
Babylonians, were overthrown, and entirety subjugated by the
Persians ; and the Persians (it is remarkable) were the restorers
of the Jews, as well as the destroyers of their enemies. The Syro-
Macedonians were swallowed up by the Romans : and the
Roman empire, great and powerful as it was, was broken in
pieces by the incursions of the northern nations ; while the Jews
are subsisting as a distinct people to this day.”^
XXXVII
“A Call to the Christians and the Hebrews”
” You are at length to be restored to the land of your fore-
fathers, where, after ages of dispersion and suffering, you will find
rest and enjoyment ; and will restore, surpass and enjoy, for ever,
aU that you have ever known, or conceived of happiness and
glory. … Ye have sown in tears, ye shall reap in joy.” (Psalm
cxxvi, 5.)
” They who deny that you will be restored and re-established
in your ancient inheritance, may better deny that you are dis-
persed ; for as certainly as the prophecies of your dispersion and
preservation have been verified, so shall the numerous prophecies
of your restoration be realized and fulfilled.”
” Will the British who preside over the Atlantic, Mediterranean
and Indian Seas assume the glorious enterprise, and conduct
the Hebrews from Tarshish and the various coasts of their
dispersion ?
” This island has given birth to the Bible Society, through
whose labours the glorious work has been undertaken and
sustained of circulating the sacred scriptures, among the various
nations of the earth in the respective languages.
^ Dissertations on the Prophecies . . . By Thomas Newton, D.D., . . . vol. i.,
London . . . mdccliv. pp. 216-219.
2i8 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
” From this isle of ancient fame, the Hindoos and the lone
isles of the Pacific and Atlantic Seas, again receive their Vedas
and sacred scrolls.
” The uplifted shell sounded from this Arctic isle, will gain the
ear of the wakeful Spirits of peace within it, and upon either
Continent ; of those watchers of the world, who listen to gather
and transmit to all kindred and nations, the grateful sounds
fraught with good tidings, which ascend ever and anon, as the
all-presiding God calls them forth from some one of his train on
Earth.’i
XXXVIII
The Centenary of the British and Foreign Bible Society
Those who wish to read the full record of the Society’s work
can do so in the two delightful volumes of Mr. WilHam
Canton. In his History of the British and Foreign Bible
Society (London, Murray, 1904) he tells, in fine style, the
story of the first half-century of the Society’s career. When
the Society began its work, that is to say at the begin-
ning of the nineteenth century, ” all the Bibles in the world
in all languages and in every land, printed or in MSS., did
not greatly exceed 4,000,000 copies, and of the forty or fifty
languages into which the Scriptures have been translated,
several, like the Anglo-Saxon of Bede and the Mseso-Gothic of
Ulfilas, were extinct tongues.” But now how stands the matter ?
” Under its auspices and mainly at its charges, scholars have
been employed in translating the Scriptures into over 300
languages, including all the great vernaculars of the world.
Neither expense nor labour has been spared in making these
versions as perfect as possible ; and when completed they have
been printed, and thus placed within the reach of the poorest
of those for whom they were intended. In 100 years over
180,000,000 copies of the scriptures, complete or in part, have
been issued by the Society ; and at the present time more than
6,000,000 copies per annum are being put into circulation.”
The well-known scholar, Dr. Israel Abrahams, after quoting
this passage in the Jewish Chronicle, March 4th, 1904, rightly
remarks : “. . . the Society is doing a noble work, with much of
which Jews must completely sympathise. With some of its
work we do not sympathise ; but this reservation does not
prevent us from offering cordial congratulations to the Society
on its centenary, …” This is our point of view with regard to
non- Jewish activities on behalf of Zionism, as well as on behalf of
the Bible.
* A Call to the Christians and the Hebrews. By Theaetetus. . . . London
MDCCcxix. 8°. 1 1. + 35 pp. [B. M.] pp. 16-17, 33-34-
APPENDICES 219
XXXIX
Lord Kitchener and the Palestine Exploration Fund
Dr. Samuel Daiches read a paper on the 7th February, 1915,
to the Jews’ College Union Society about Lord Kitchener’s
work in Palestine. Sir Edward Pears, who is a member of the
Council of the Palestine Exploration Fund, presided. Dr.
Daiches pointed out that there was an early period in Lord
Kitchener’s life which provided him with work in which he
developed his great capacities — the period of his work in
Palestine — nearly forty years ago, when he was engaged for four
years (from 1874 to 1878) in exploration work in the Holy Land.
He first took up the work (at the age of twenty-four) as second-
in-command under Lieutenant Conder, and later, owing to the
ill-health of Conder, took command of the survey party of the
Palestine Exploration Fund. The lecturer made it clear that the
real underljdng motive which induced Lord Kitchener to take up
this work was a love for the Bible and the land of the Bible.
Kitchener left for Palestine in command of the Survey in January,
1877. By “the beginning of July the survey of Galilee was com-
pleted, 1000 square miles having been added to the map. Four
weeks later he went with a reduced party to the south country
and surveyed 340 square miles in the desert around Beer Sheba.
The survey of the whole of Western Palestine was thus completed.
Then the revision work was done. In January, 1878, Kitchener
was back in England, and after a short leave he joined Conder at
the South Kensington Museum, and arranged and wrote the
Memoirs for the sheets of the map executed by himself. In
September he formally handed over to the Committee the whole
of the Maps and Memoirs complete. As a result of the work of
Conder and Kitchener we now have the large map of Western
Palestine in twenty-six sheets, three volumes of Memoirs on the
topography, orthography, hydrography and archaeology, and the
volume of Arabic and English name lists. A volume of Special
Papers (vol. v. of the series) contains contributions from Conder
and Kitchener. Kitchener’s contributions concerning the
ancient Synagogues in Galilee are very valuable, and his reports
show a sympathetic understanding of Jewish traditions in
Palestine. 1
^ Lord Kitchener and his work in Palestine. By Dr. Samuel Daiches.
London . , . 1915. (8°. 88 p^.)
220 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
XL
Bonaparte’s Call to the Jews (1799)
Gazette Nationale ou Le Moniteur Universel.
No. 243. Tridi, 3 prairial an 7 de la repuhlique frangaise une et
indivisible.
[Page] 987. Politique. Turquie. Constantinople, le 28 germinal.
” Bonaparte a fait publier une proclamation, dans laquelle
il invite tons les juifs de I’Asie et de TAfrique a venir se ranger
sous ses drapeaux pour retablir I’ancienne Jerusalem. II en a
deja arme un grand nombre, et leurs bataillons menacent Alep.”
No. 279. Nonidi, 9 messidor etc.
[Pages] 1136-1137. De la conquete probable de-V empire ottoman
par Bonaparte.
“… Attendons la confirmation de ces heureuses nouvelles. Si
elles sont prematurees, nous aimons a croire qu’elles se realiser-
ont un jour. Ce n’est pas seulement pour rendre aux juifs leur
Jerusalem que Bonaparte a conquis la Syrie ; . . .” (David.)
XLI
[A Zionist] Letter, addressed by a [French] Jew to his
CO-RELIGIONISTS IN 1798
” Brothers,
” You who have groaned for so many ages under the
weight of the cruelest persecutions, do you not wish to burst
from the state of degrading humiliation in which intolerant and
barbarous religions have placed you ? Contempt accompanies
us everywhere. Our sufferings are unpitied and despised. The
unshaken constancy with which we have preserved the faith of
our ancestors, far from procuring for us the admiration due to
such a conduct, has only increased the unjust hatred which all
nations bear towards us. It is only by affecting the exterior of
baseness and misery, that we are enabled to secure our property
and preserve our unhappy existence. It is at least time to
shake off this insupportable yoke — it is time to resume our rank
among the other nations of the universe. Vile robbers possess
that sacred land which our ancestors were compelled to yield to
the Romans. They profane the holy City which we defended
with so much courage. Posterity has preserved a dreadful
remembrance of the struggle — we, surely, have not forgotten it.
That courage has only slumbered: the hour to awaken it is
APPENDICES 221
arrived. O my brethren ! let us rebuild the temple of
Jerusalem !
” An invincible nation, which now fills the world with her
glory, has shewn us what the love of country can perform. Let
us implore her generosity — request her assistance ; and we may
be assured that the philosophy which guides the chiefs of that
nation, will induce them to give our demand a favourable
reception.
” We are more than six millions of people scattered over the
face of the earth ; we possess immense riches : let us employ the
means that are in our power to restore us to our country. The
moment is propitious, and to profit by it, is our duty. The follow-
ing are the means best suited for carrying this holy enterprize
into execution : — There shall be estabhshed a Council, the
members of which shall be elected by the Jews, who are spread
over Europe, Asia, and Africa.
[Here the writer divides the Jews into the 15 following
tribes, viz. The Italian, Helvetic, Hungarian, PoUsh, Russian,
Northern, British, Spanish, Gallic, Dutch, Prussian, German,
Turkish, Asiatic, and African. These the author proposes shall
each form a body of electors in the capitals of the respective
districts ; and then he proceeds.]
” The fifteen deputies of these tribes shall form the Council,
which shall hold its sittings at Paris. When they shall have
assembled to the number of nine, they may begin to deliberate
on the object of their mission. Their decisions will have with
all the Jews the force of laws ; they shall be obliged to submit
to them. The Council shall appoint an agent, to communicate
to the Executive Directory of France the propositions which it
may think proper to make to the French government.”
” The country we propose to occupy shall include (liable to
such arrangements as shall be agreeable to France) Lower Egypt,
with the addition of a district of country, which shall have for its
limits a line running from Ptomelais or Saint John D’Acre, to the
Asphaltic Lake, or Dead Sea, and from the South point of that
Lake to the Red Sea. This position, which is the most advan-
tageous in the world, will render us, by the navigation of the Red
Sea, masters of the commerce of India, Arabia and the South
and East of Africa ; Abyssinia, and Ethiopia, those rich countries
which furnished Solomon with so much gold and ivory and so
many precious stones, will trade the more willingly with us, that
the greater part of their inhabitants still practise the law of
Moses. The neighbourhood of Aleppo and Damascus will facili-
tate our commerce with Persia ; and by the Mediterranean we
may communicate with Spain, France, Italy, and the rest of
Europe. Placed in the centre of the world, our country will
become the entrepot of all the rich and precious productions of the
earth.
222 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
” The Council shall offer to the French government, if it will
give us the assistance necessary to enable us to return to our
country, and to maintain ourselves in the possession of it,
” I. Every pecuniary indemnification.
2. To share the commerce of India, &c. with the’merchants
of France only.
** The other arrangements, and the propositions to be made to
the Ottoman Porte, cannot yet be rendered public : we must, in
these matters, repose on the wisdom of the Council, and the good
faith of the French nation. Let us choose upright and enlight-
ened deputies, and we may have confidence in the success of this
undertaking.
“01 my brethren I what sacrifices ought we not to make to
obtain this object ? We shall return to our country — we shall
live under our own laws — ^we shall behold those sacred places
which our ancestors illustrated with their courage and their
virtues. I already see you all animated with a holy zeal.
Israelites ! the term of your misfortunes is at hand. The oppor-
tunity is favourable — take care you do not allow it to escape.”^
This appeal — a prototype of Pinsker’s Autoemancipation and
of Herzl’s Judenstaat — produced a deep impression, but since the
whole expedition proved a failure, Jewish opinion — not on the
principle, but on the opportunity and the means — was divided.
XLII
” Transactions of the Parisian Sanhedrim,”
BY DiOGENE Tama
Transactions Of The Parisian Sanhedrim,
Or Acts Of The Assembly Of Israelitish Deputies of France and
Italy, Convoked At Paris By An Imperial And Royal Decree,
Dated May 30, 1806.
Translated From The Original Published By M. Diogene Tama,
With A Preface And Illustrative Notes By F. D. Kirwan, Esq.
London; . . . Published by Charles Taylor, Hatton Street. 1807.
(8°. xvi+334^^) [i-s.]
1 The Restoration of the Jews the Crisis of all Nations ; . . . Second Edition.
By J. Bicheno, m.a.
London : . . . 1807 (8°. 2 //.-}- 235 PP- [I- S.]) pp. 60-62.
See Appendices XLIII-XLVI.
APPENDICES 223
XLIII
Signs of the Times”— “A Word in Season” — “Commotions
Since French Revolution”— “History of Christianity”—
“The German Empire” — “Fulfilment of Prophecy,” by
Rev. James Bicheno
The Signs of the Times : . . . By J. Bicheno . . .
London : Printed For The Author ; And Sold by Parsons, Pater-
noster-Row ; Wayland, Holborn, London ; and James and Cottle,
Bristol.
Price IS. 6d. [1793]
Of whom may be had the Author’s P>iendly Address to the Jews,
and a Letter to Mr. D. Levi. Price is. 6d.
(8°. 4lL^6ypp.) [B. M.]
A Word in Season : … To Stand Prepared For The Con-
sequences Of The Present War . . .
By J. Bicheno, . . . London . . . 1795.
(8°. 2 It. +53 pp.) [B.M.]
The Probable Progress And Issue Of The Commotions Which
Have Agitated Europe Since The French Revolution, . . .
By J. Bicheno . . . London . . . mdccxcvii.
{S°. 2 11. +g4 pp.) [B.M.]
A Glance At The History of Christianity, . . .
By James Bicheno, m.a., Newbury . . . mdccxcviii. . . .
(8°. 28 pp.) [B. M.]
The Destiny Of The German Empire ; . . .
By J. Bicheno, M.A. . . . London : . . . 1801 ….
{S°. 2 II. +g6 pp.) [B. M.]
The Fulfilment of Prophecy Farther Illustrated By The Signs Of
The Times ; . . .
By J. Bicheno, m.a. London . . . 1817.
(8°. xvii-f 254 pp.) [B. M.]
XLIV
” Restoration of the Jews ” — ” Friendly Address to the Jews,”
by Rev. James Bicheno—” Letter to Mr. Bicheno,” by David
Levi
The Restoration of the Jews, The Crisis Of All Nations ;
Or, An Arrangement Of The Scripture Prophecies, Which Relate
To The Restoration Of The Jews, And To Some Of The Most
224 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Interesting Circumstances Which Are To Accompany And Dis-
tinguish That Important Event ;
With Illustrations And Remarks Drawn From The Present
Situation And Apparent Tendencies Of Things, Both In Christian
And Mahomedan Countries.
By J. Bicheno, m.a. . . . London . . . 1800. [Price Two ShiUings
And Sixpence.]
(S°.2ll.+iispp.) [B. M.]
The Restoration Of The Jews The Crisis Of All Nations ;
To Which Is Now Prefixed, A Brief History Of The Jews, From
Their First Dispersion, To The CaUing Of Their Grand San-
hedrim At Paris, October 6th, 1806.
And An Address On The Present State Of Affairs, In Europe In
General, And In This Country In Particular.
Second Edition.
By J. Bicheno, m.a.
London : . . . 1807. (Price 5s. — Entered at Stationer* s-H all.)
(S\ 2 II. +235 PP-) [i-s.]
He also wrote : —
A Friendly Address To The Jews. . . .
To Which Is Added, A Letter To Mr. D. Levi ; Containing
Remarks On His Answer To Dr. Priestley’s Letter To The Jews ;
Shewing, That however his Arguments may affect the Opinions
of Dr. Priestley, they form no Objection against the Christian
Religion.
By J. Bicheno, Newbury. London : . . .
(8°. vi. pp. + 1I. +88 pp.) [I. s.]
Which occasioned the following reply : —
A Letter To Mr. Bicheno, Occasioned By His Friendly Address
to the Jews, And A Letter To Mr. David Levi, Containing Re-
marks On Mr. Levi’s Answer To Dr. Priestley’s First Letters To
The Jews.
By David Levi, Author Of Lingua Sacra, The Ceremonies Of
The Jews, etc. . . .
See pp. 127-134 in ” Letters To Dr. Priestley, In Answer To His
Letters To The Jews, Part II. Occasioned By Mr. David Levi’s
Reply to the Former Part. Also Letters i. To Dr. Cooper, . . .
2. To Mr. Bicheno, 3. To Dr. Krauter, 4. To Mr. Swain, And
5. To Anti-Socinus, alias Anselm Bayly. Occasioned By Their
Remarks On Mr. David Levi’s Answer To Dr. Priestley’s First
Letters To The Jews. By David Levi, . . . London : …
M,DCC,LXXXIX.
(8^ 2 II. + 159 pp.) [I.S.]
APPENDICES 225
XLV
“Attempt to Remove Prejudices Concerning the
Jewish Nation,” by Thomas Witherby
An Attempt To Remove Prejudices Concerning The Jewish
Nation. By Way Of Dialogue.
By Thomas Witherby. ‘
Part I.i
London : Printed For The Author, . . . 1804. {Entered at
Stationers-Hall.)
(8\ XX +511 pp.) [I. s.]
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 . . .
(8°. XX -1-323 ^^) [I.S.]
Page iii : (Dedicated) ” To The Jews. Distinguished Nation.
. . . Thomas Witherby. Enfield, Middlesex, Aug. 22, 1800.”‘
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.]
(8°. 2 II. +Si pp. -f-i /. (Catalogue.) “‘ [i. s.]
^ The pagination is consecutive, but Part II is dated 1803.
* Gentleman’s Magazine, 1801, vol. Ixxi., pp. 830-836.
II.-Q
226 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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.]
(8°.iv+56^/>.) [I.S.]
Page 56 : ” Your brother in the sole worship Of the one only true
God, Joseph Priestley. Birmingham, July i, 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, l.l.d. f.r.s. &c. . . .
Northumberland :i. . . mdccxcix.
(8°. xxvii +428 pp. +2 //. (catalogue).) [b. m.]
pp. 393-428 : “An Address To The Jews/’
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.
(8°. 2 II. +99 pp.) [I.S.]
Second Edition mdcclxxxvii. (103 pp.) [i. s.]
Third Edition, m,dcc,xciii. (2 //. +99 pp.) [i. s.]
* Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
APPENDICES 227
“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 expres-
sive air to which, by a happy inspiration, Nathan set the
verses : —
‘ O weep for tl ose 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 song-
writer, 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. . . .” ^
^ Jewish Chronicle, ist April, 1904, page 21.
228 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
LI
“Reminiscences of Lord Byron . . . Poetry, etc., of Lady
Caroline Lamb,” by Isaac N
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 song-
writer, 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. . . .” ^
^ Jewish Chronicle, ist April, 1904, page 21.
228 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 Pubhshed ;
The Whole Illustrated With Critical, Historical, Theatrical,
Political, And Theological Remarks, Notes, Anecdotes, Interest-
ing 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.
(8°. xxxvi+igG+ii:^^.) [i. s.]
LII
“Selection of Hebrew Melodies,” by John Braham and
Isaac Nathan
A Selection of Hebrew Melodies Ancient and Modern with ap-
propriate Symphonies & accompaniments.
By 1. Braham & I. Nathan.
The Poetry written expressly for the work By the Right hon Lord
Byron . . .
Published & Sold by I: Nathan N° 7 Poland Street Oxford Str*.
and to be had at the principal Music and Booksellers. [Price One
Guinea. (1815.)]
(4/0. ^ll+liZZPP-) [I. s.]
A second edition was published in 1861.
(4^0. 2 II. +21^ pp.) [b. M.]
APPENDICES 229
LIII
Earl of Shaftesbury’s Zionist Memorandum
Scheme for the Colonisation of Palestine
Lord Ashley’^ to Viscount Palmer ston.
” St. Giles House,
” September z^th, 1840.
” 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 Mediter-
ranean Sea.
“The consideration of the person or the authority to whom
these territories may be assigned by the award of the con-
tracting 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 induce-
ments and other hopes, over and above those which influence the
general mass of mankind.
” Without entering into the grounds of the desire and expecta-
tions entertained by the Hebrew Race of their return ultimately
to the land of their fathers, it may be safely asserted that they
* Succeeded his father in 1851 as the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury.
230 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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, con-
fidence 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, ac-
customed 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 establish-
ment 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 eveiywhere 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 legiti-
mate 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 con-
sideration 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
APPENDICES 231
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.” ^
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 (WilHam) III. King of Prussia ; WilHam
(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 Wurtem-
berg ; 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 xHx. 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,
* The Life and Work of the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, k.g., by
Edwin Hodder, 1866, vol. i., pp. 313-315.
232 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 approach-
ing footsteps, and to mark the signs of His drawing near (i 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 Cliristian 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. i) 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
(Mai. 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 repent-
ance 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 (i Pet. ii. 5 ; Ps. cxxii. 6) for
mount 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. . . .
” / am with great respect and esteem,
” Your faithful Servant,
” Moses Montefiore.
” The Revd. Dr. Adler,
Chief Rabbi, &c. &c.”
— /
** East Cliff Lodge,
” Ramsgate,
” lyth August, 5614.
1854.
*’ My dear and respected Sir,
“… 7 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 pro-
longed 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 com-
municate 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.”
240 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
” Alliance Office,
” Bartholomew Lane,
” Wednesday Morn,
” 23 Augt., ’614.
” My dear and respected Sir,
“… 7 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. … 7 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, i^th Septr., 5614.
” My dear and respected Sir,
“… 7 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
APPENDICES 241
for our departure, hut to enjoy the honor of your Society, we would
postpone it to meet your Convenience to any day that would enahU
us to reach Jerusalem for Passover.
” Hoping to have the gratification of a favorable reply from you,
** Believe me to he,
” Your faithful Servant,
” Moses Montefiore.
” To the Reverend
Dr. Adler,
Chief Rabbi.”
” East Cliff Lodge,
” Ramsgate,
*’ i^th 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 15/A, 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 amehoration 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
II.— R
242 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
God’s blessing, not only tend to remove the present appalling
misery of our starving brethren in Zion, but spare us the humili
ation 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, i8th 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 exaggera-
tion 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
APPENDICES 243
about … by their reliance on fixed pensions and casual alms
without the exercise of industry, either in agriculture, com-
merce 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 indo-
lence, 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 Congrega-
tions have proved to Sir Moses Montefiore, who has been at all
times the strenuous advocate of industrial pursuits, the willing-
ness 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 what-
ever 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 congrega-
tions 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. Abler, Dr., Chief Rabbi.”^
* An Appeal on behalf of the famishing Jews in the Holy Land. Dona-
tions will he thankjully 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 (8°. 16 pp. in printed wrapper), pp. 3-7.
244 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 estabhshment of institutions
designed to reheve 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 appropria-
tion 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 repre-
sentatives of Zapphed.
” The desirabihty of cultivating land was discussed at this sit-
ting, 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 con-
firmed by the best evidence, a Committee of practical agri-
culturists — men distinguished by their probity, and of acknow-
ledged 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, sufiicient
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 Taharia 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.
APPENDICES , 245
** 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 declara-
tion ‘ 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 hoUness,’ and in the midst of her ‘the King of
Israel, even the Lord ; ‘ . . . Her walls shall be called * Salvation.’
246 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 postion, . . . 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 sufiicient to become their leaders. . . .”
” 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.’ “^
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 he 2 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
* 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 Arma-
geddon, and the downfall of Russia, as deduced wholly from prophecy.
London . . . 1854.
[8°. 30 pp.] pp. 4-5, 13-14. 27. 30.
* Frederick Greenwood, one of the ablest journalists of his day.
APPENDICES 247
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.
” It was, Greenwood told me, on Lord Beaconsfield’s personal
suggestion that the difficulty, at the moment apparently insuper-
able, 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,^ 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 trans-
action 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 2 J per cent.
“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 trans-
action 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. . . .”^
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,
^ Afterwards Lord Rowton.
* Cornhill, January, 191 2, pp. 64-65.
248 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
as well as the circumstances which would render interference
necessary, are not very clearly defined. But the British Govern-
ment, 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 plat-
form upon which mighty nations strove, and empires fell in the
strife which was raging then as now between the powers of Good
and Evil.”^
LX
Disraeli and Heine
” Deux noms, dont le rapprochement pent sembler d’abord
inattendu, me viennent sans cesse k I’esprit lorsque j’embrasse
d’un coup d’oeil cette physionomie singulis’. e d’homme d’etat et
d’ecrivain, et ils aident, si je ne me tr mpe, k en demeler la
signification. M. Disraeli me fait sou vent penser a Henri Heine.
Chez tous les deux, en effet, meme vivacite d’intelligence, meme
penetration, meme promptitude a saisir toutes les idees et a
s’approprier pour un instant toutes les doctrines, meme vaga-
bondage d ‘imagination, meme indiscipHne de genie, meme
melange bizarre de fantaisie et de pensee, de frivolite et de pro-
f ondeur. . . . M. Disraeli a eu la chance, qui n’echut pas a H. Heine,
de vivre dans un milieu oii certains exces n’eussent jamais ete
toleres. . . . II n ‘a pas connu non plus les souffrances morales,
les apres soucis, les angoisses, les serieuses epreuves, qui repandent
I’amertume dans Tironie du poete allemand, et lui arrachent,
parmi ses eclats de rire, des cris si poignans : mais comme il
tranche neanmoins sur la societe anglaise, . . . Quelle perturba-
tion il jette dans son parti, quelle inquietude il y seme par les
saillies de sa verve goguenarde, . . . De quel doigt irrespectueux
il leve tous les voiles et touche aux institutions qu’il pretend
defendre ! Ici, comme chez H. Heine, on ne saurait meconnaitre
1 ‘influence persistante de la race. L’un a fini par embrasser
* Cyprus and the Asiatic Turkey, by J. M. London, 1878, pp. v-vii.
APPENDICES 249
le catholicisme, I’autre est ne dans I’eglise anglicane ; mais ils
restent Juifs, et pour sa part M. Disraeli, courageux avocat des
Juifs a la chambre des communes et dans ces livres, n’a jamais
desavoue sa parente avec eux. L’etit-il essaye d’ailleurs, que le
sceau de la race, vivement empreinte dans son genie et dans son
caractere, Taurait trahi. Malgre son torysme d’emprunt, on sent,
il faut le dire k son honneur, dans le langage de M. Disraeli una
sympathie de coeur pour les desherites qui n’est guere une dis-
position anglaise et aristocratique : c’est bien plutot un souvenir
de I’egalite juive et un sentiment puise dans la legislation re-
publicaine de Moise ; mais ce qui est plus juif encore, c’est ce
fonde de cynisme, derniere defense d’une race trempee de longue
date par la persecution et le mepris, bronzee par Thabitude de
I’outrage. M. Disraeli n’est pas plus exempt que H. Heine de
cette audace qui defie le ridicule et qui meme sait en tire
parti. .
•1
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 briUiant annals of past Jewish magni-
ficence. . . . 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
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.
250 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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/’^
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,
* The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, by William
Flavelle Monypenny and George Earie Buckle. Volume iii. . . . London
. . . I9I4» PP- 68-69.
APPENDICES 251
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
LXIII
An Appeal by Ernest Laharanne (i860)
” Oh ! que de proscriptions, que de larmes, que de sang dans
cette periode de 18 si^cles, et vous etes encore, fils de Juda !
” Contre la haine, le mepris, le dedain, le degout vous avez
franchi ces obstacles, sans nombre, que les bourreaux des siecles
d’aveugle foi tendaient k votre passage, et Tetemelle main vous
conduisait sans cesse !
” Mais la France vous a faits libres ! . . .
” Vous avez et6 citoyens et vous etes nos frSres !
*’ L’an 1789 a 6te pour vous la premiere 6tape de la rehabilita-
tion, si la rehabilitation est 1^ oil il n’y a pas la honte et
inf amie, mais 1^ ou il y a eu un malheur !
” Marchez alors sous I’^gide sacr^e de cette France 6manci-
patrice ! Dans sa mission lib^rale, son etoile de salut distingua
^chelonnes, sur la route des peuples, toutes les races proscrites
et tous les parias du monde. Et vous 6tiez sur ce grand chemin,
et I’opprobre et les malheurs ombrageaient seuls I’^pineuse et
brulante voie ! ”
** Elle vous appella dans ses assemblees, dans ses triomphes,
dans ses joies, dans ses malheurs ; et au jour des deliberations,
vous avez parle, et au jour des marches triomphales vous avez
applaudi, et au jour de nos malheurs, vous avez pleur^ ! . . .”
” Nous nous inclinons devant vous, hommes forts ! Car vous
f utes forts durant votre histoire antique ; vous f utes forts, depuis
le drame de Jerusalem ; vous futes forts au temps du moyen-
age, alors qu’il n’y avait que deux noires puissances : I’inqui-
sition avec la croix, les pirates avec le croissant !
” Mais vous ne nous etes pas arrives tous jusqu’k nous. Com-
bien n’en a-t-il pas fallu pour payer I’immense tribu de 18 siecles !
** Mais, ceux qui restent, vous pouvez grandir encore et
rebatir la porte de Jerusalem.
** C’est votre tache. Dieu ne vous aurait pas conduits jusqu’k
^ Stirring Times … of 1853 to 1856, by the late James Finn . . . vol.L
London . . . 1878, pp. 130-132.
252 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
nos temps s’il n’avait pas voulu vous r^server la plus sainte des
missions. . . !*
” Une haute mission vous est reservee. Places comme un
vivant trait d’union entre trois mondes, vous devez amener la
civilisation chez les peuples inexperimentes encore, vous devez
leur porter les lumieres d’Europe que vous avezrecueillies aflots.”
” Vous servirez d’intermediaires entre TEurope et I’extreme
Asie, et vous ouvxirez les grandes voies quimdnent aux Indes et a
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 d^couvriront, comme devant un ain6
des peuples ! . . .”
” Vous avez assez aide a civiliser les peuples, en Europe,
k faire avancer le progres, a faire et a favoriser les revolutions ;
vous devez maintenant songer au vallees du Liban et aux grandes
plaines de Genezareth.
” Mar chez ! Dans votre oeuvre renovatrice, nos coeurs vous
suivront et nos bras vous serviront d’aide !
” Nous le ferons ! Vous avez en vous-memes de ces hommes
si rares en nos temps, qui ont fait appel k vos sympathies, et k
vos secours, pour venir soulager nos fr^es dans le malheur V-
” Cette voix que nous entendons encore a retenti d’un bout k
I’autre du monde. Et qui ne serait pas reconnaissant aujourd’hui
du genereux elan qu’a provoque le grand homme ?
” Mar chez, Juifs de tous les pays ! . . . L’antique patrie vous
appelle, et nous serons fiers de venir rouvrir vos foyers ! **
” Marchez, fils de martyrs ! . . .”^
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.”
1 ” L’illustre M. Cr6mieux, dont le nom, en ces circonstances, ne saurait
fetre jamais assez, non pas glorifi.6, mais b6m. …”
2 La Nouvelle Question d’Orient. Empires d’Egypte et d’Arabie.
Reconstitution de la Nationality Juive, Paris . . . i860. (8°. 47 pp.)
pp. 39-41.
APPENDICES 253
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 Faritily — 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 — ]^ames 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, counter-
signed 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 in-
valuable 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 de-
posited at the Jews’ College, Queen Square House, London, but
form part of the Library of the Judith, Lady Montefiore Theo-
logical 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 or 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 Enghsh Consul for
Palestine, and up to the present time there are many Jews
engaged in performing even the most menial offices and doing
254 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
their best to provide food for their famiHes. The other day a
meeting was held by the Chief Rabbi, Haim David Hassan, and
many other notabiUties of the different congregations, at which I
also attended. The subject proposed was an enquiry to ascer-
tain 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 Chris-
tian, 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 our-
selves by the sweat of our brows. But there is in Palestine no
other source of employment capable of giving bread to a com-
munity consisting of thousands of individuals, save agriculture.
APPENDICES 255
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
handiv/ork 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 he 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
256 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 counsel-
lors, 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 develop-
ment 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 con-
stantly 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
: nn’^sn ]«nab6n p’ts rw^’ll^ b^iw^^ ^n^ nia;’* man
London Hebrew Society for the Colonization
OF THE Holy Land
Plans
‘* The London Society for the Colonization of the Holy Land
intends : —
” I. 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 wiUing 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.
APPENDICES 257
“3. On those sent out by the Society the sacred duty devolves
to fulfil faithfully the commandments of the min not to work
— or cause to work — on Sabbath, Festivals, Schemita, and
Jobal, as well as to observe nxai nriDB^ IDpi and all other com-
mandments 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 n’D, 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 ap-
pointed by the society, to protect the colony from the attacks
of the Bedouins ; also police to enforce the laws and to main-
tain 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
II.— s
258 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
deceased relations or friends, can do so by paying a certain sum,
according to his means, to have them inscribed as perpetual
members.
” i8. Each member to pay an entrance fee of not less than
IS. 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, manage-
ment, &c., and for the assistance of those persons preparing
themselves for agriculture.
” 20. Each member agrees to pay a certain voluntary contri-
bution towards the funds of the society, which sum has to be
paid to the committee every isnn U^fc^l for which he will receive
a receipt.
“21. A public meeting will be held every n*l 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.”^
^ ^^’i^\ rip35 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 tern.),” appeared in a specimen of a unique newspaper lent to
me by Mr. James H. Lowe, entitled J 1310^^^ VK^^H K’^** London Jews’
Weeldy Times, No. 4, 31st May =26 lyar, but the year is omitted. The
advertisements were printed, but the news was lithographed. The ofl&ces
were situated at 4 Sun street, and the paper was pubUshed by Harris
Leyserowich of No. 3 Sweedland Court, Bishopsgate Street, City.
APPENDICES 259
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
efiicient 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, com-
merce, 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 con-
siderable 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
26o THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
ones, she is unable to give energetic support to either agri-
culture 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
” The Turkish Empire contains virtues of all kinds, which, if
they were utilized by a powerful company, would yield con-
siderable 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
26o THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
ones, she is unable to give energetic support to either agri-
culture 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 Constanti-
nople 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
APPENDICES 261
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 combina-
tion, 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 Com-
mission 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 com-
posed 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 sus-
ceptibilities of any nation. Influential men in France, England,
and elsewhere are favourably disposed to the scheme.”^
^ Societe Nationale Universelle pour la Renouvellement de 1′ Orient
[Henri Dunant] Paris . . . 1866.
262 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
LXIX
An Appeal of Rabbi Eijas Gutmacher and Rabbi Hirsch
Kalischer to the Jews of England (1867)
Appeal to Our Brethren
Thou shall 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 xxxi v.
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, ” AlUance Israelite,” in Paris, so great in its activity,
at the head of which M. Adolphe Cremieux 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 reaUze 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
APPENDICES 263
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 Israelite ” of Paris, as a member with a yearly
contribution of i 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 ; i)erhaps the under-
signed 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).
Eli AS GuTMACHER, Rabbi in Graetz.
Hirsch Kalischer, Rabbi in Thorn. ^
LXX
Alexandre Dumas (//j) and Zionism
In La Femme de Claude, pp. 50-51, Daniel says :
” Nous sommes dans une epoque ou chaque race a resolu de
revendiquer et d ‘avoir bien ^ elle son sol, son foyer, sa langue et
son temple. II y a assez longtemps que nous autres Israelites,
nous sommes depossedes de tout cela. Nous avons ete forces de
nous glisser dans les interstices des nations, d’ou nous avons
‘ Siflifr nD» The Hebrew National, vol. i.. No. i., Feb. 15th, 1867,
p. 6.
264 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
penetre dans les inter ets des gouvernements, des societes, des
individus. C’est beaucoup, ce n’est pas assez. On croit encore
que la persecution nous a disperses, elle nous a repandus ; et
nous tenant par la main, nous formons aujourd’hui un filet dans
lequel le monde pourrait bien se trouver pris le jour oii il lui
viendrait kVidee de nous redevenir hostile ou de se declarer ingrat .
En attendant nous ne voulons plus etre un groupe, nous voulons
etre un peuple, plus qu un peuple, une nation. La patrie ideale
ne nous suffit plus, la patrie fixe et territorial nous est redevenue
necessaire, et je pars pour chercher et lever notre acte de naissance
legalise.”
Isidore Cahen writes, Le Daniel de la Femme du Claude
“… prevoit et predit une rest aurat ion materielle de la grandeur
de Juda, la reconstitution dun Etat politique juif ! M. Dumas
va jusqu’a citer le voeu celebre de la Hagadah : * L’ann^e
prochaine a Jerusalem. . . .’
” Dans ces voeux qui contiennent nos livres traditionelles
il n’y a qu’une esperance allegorique un vceu mystique : c’est
une Jerusalem ideale, . . . et non pas une Jerusalem politique “^
… II 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 appreciation des
Israelites. Le jour ou j’ai ecrit la Femme de Claude, j’ai cru les
glorifier. Je ne vols pas que Daniel et Rebecca ne representent
pas un ideal superieur et si Daniel menace un moment ceux qui
pourraient se montrer hostiles ou ingrats de la puissance que ses
coreligionnaires ont acquise, il a parfaitement raison. Ce n’est
pas quand depuis pres de deux mille ans une race subit Tin justice
et la persecution comme Fa fait votre race, qu’elle va, apres de
grands services rendus, supporter I’ingratitude et I’hostilite de
ceux qu’elle a tires d’affaire. II n’en est pas moins vrai que lors
de I’apparition de la Femme de Claude, beaucoup de vos co-
religionnaires se sont trompes sur mes intentions et que quelques-
uns ont organise une cabale contre la piece. Je ne leur en veux
pas. Je ne ferai jamais entrer une question personnelle dans ce
jugement que je puis avoir a porter historiquement et philoso-
phiquement sur toute une Nation.
. . . Comme j’assiste pendant le temps que je passe sur la terre
aux evolutions de Thumanite a laquelle j’appartiens, je m’amuse
quelquefois k essayer de prevoir et meme de predire la direction
qu’elles peuvent prendre. Comme j’ai bien etudie celles de votre
race, que je I’ai vue asservie et persecutee de tous temps et en
ces memes temps tou jours patiente et laborieuse, je me suis,
dans mon interieur, pris de sympathie pour elle, et si j ‘avals
ete capable de pratiquer une religion c’est k celle de ces per-
secutes et de ces laborieux que je serais alle. Quand un peuple
a etabli toute la morale humaine sur dix petits versets, il pent
vraiment se dire le peuple de Dieu, etant donne la conception
que les hommes les plus eclaires peuvent se faire, derriere Moise
^ Archives Israelites, i*’ Fevrier, 1873, p. 86.
APPENDICES 265
d’un Dieu personnel. Seulement j’ai le tort d’appliquer a ceux
que j’etudie et qui m’interessent les ideas que j’aurais si j’etais
a leur place . . ., quand j’ai vu les evenements politiques nous
apporter en 1870, en etablissant la Republique et en nous re-
tirant de Rome, vous apporter la revanche de tant d’injustices
et d’humiliations patiemment supportees, je me suis demande
quelle mission je me donnerais, si dans les idees ou je suis,
j ‘etais membre de ce peuple particulier. Je me suis dit alors que
je n’aurais qu’une idee, ce serait de reprendre possession de mon
sol d’origine et de tradition et de rebatir le temple de Jerusalem,
sinon sur la place du tombeau du Christ, du moins en face. C’est
cette idee que j’ai incamee dans Daniel. On m’a dit souvent
depuis, que je me trompais sur les ambitions des IsraeUtes, qu’ils
ne pensaient plus a ces represailles-la, que leur ideal etait de
vivre en paix avec les differentes nations qui leur ont donne
droit de cite et qu’ils ont renonce a finir leurs jours dans un foyer
a eux. Tant pis pour eux, si c’est vrai. II est bon d’avoir un
ideal, meme quand il est irrealisable. Voilk mon cher ami, aussi
brievement que possible, mes idees sur vos coreligionnaires.
lis m’ont tou jours inspire les sentiments que leur courage, leur
perseverance, leurs malheurs, leurs efforts de toutes sortes
doivent inspirer a des esprits de bonne foi et k des consciences
desinteressees. . . .^
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 foregoing are extracts from a hitherto unpublished letter sent by
Alexandre Dumas (fils) to a prominent French Jew. It is dated 1873.
266 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
” 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 communica-
tion — all these undertakings and circumstances united seem to
indicate that the moment could not be better chosen for com-
mencing 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 Phoenicia, 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 dis-
covery 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
APPENDICES 267
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.^
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 ofi&ce ; 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 confirma-
tion 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 any-
thing like the same interest in Syria, that we have ; besides which,
it is to the EngHsh 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 popula-
tion of Syria, and are for most part lords of the soil, are with very
few exceptions completely illiterate, regardless of truth, dis-
honest in their dealings, and immoral in their conduct. In large
towns the greater proportion of the upper classes are both physic-
ally 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 ruUng class. The other sects are too
few in number, and too bigoted and superstitious, to be of any
^ Jewish Chronicle and Hebrew Observer, December 13, 1867, p. 6.
268 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 govern-
ment 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 suffi-
cient 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
APPENDICES 269
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 en-
listed, 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
naHon, and that Syria would become as firmly united to England
as if it were peopled by our own countrymen.”‘^
LXXIII
A Collection of Opinions of English Christian Authorities
ON the Colonization of Palestine
I. 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
^ England’s Policy in the East: our Relations with Russia and the
Future of Syria. By Edward Cazalet. Second Edition. London : . . . iSyg.
[8°. iv+32 pp. in printed wrapper.] pp. 22-26.
270 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 ever5rthing 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 i)eople 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
sj^tem 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 hill-
side, 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.
Tl^e 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. \Vliere were hot ,
APPENDICES 271
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 mth 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,
272 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 fulfil-
ment 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 over-
whelming 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 conifer cb 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.”^
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
* The Land of Promise ; or, Turkey’s Guarantee. By Charles Warren.
London: George Bell and Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1875.
(8°. 24 pp. in printed wrapper) pp. 5-6, 8, 14-20.
APPENDICES 273
Julian the Apostate restored, a.d. 363, wheft 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 move-
ment 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 neigh-
bouring countries by persons of good character, whether Chris-
tians or Jews.’ This it proposes to effect by obtaining informa-
tion 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 them-
selves 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,
II.— T
274 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 pubUc
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. . . / “^
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 civilisa-
tion ; 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 agri-
culture 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
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.
APPENDICES 275
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 mul-
berry 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 manu-
factories 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
276 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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.” ^
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 fiats 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
^ Eastern Palestine. A Lecture delivered for the Western Tent of the
Chovevi Zion Association. By Claude Reignier Conder . . . Chovevi Zion
Association. . . . 1892. (8°. 36 pp. in printed wrapper) pp. 5-6 and 35-36-
APPENDICES 277
the incidental mention of its slinaepits, 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 lor roolb 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, alkaUes, 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 ^^ith 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 hiU
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, reaUze the
prophetic description of hills running with the grape juice, and
of a land flowing with milk and honey, if by the latter we under-
stand the ‘ dibs ‘ or syrup of the grape. In Palestine a few olive-
trees on a rocky hill, that in colder cUmates 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 hiU-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 rainfaU. With just laws, well
administered, there is nothingto 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 ohve. Even in the plains, cultivated fields are few,
and much is merely wild pasture. The palm-tree is rare, though
278 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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. What-
ever beUef 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 Mediter-
ranean to the Syrian desert. It is a compact district, distinct
and complete in itself, enclosed by mountain and sea, and con-
sequently 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 capa-
bilities 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, vine-
yards 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 vSloping 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
APPENDICES 279
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 miser-
able 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 qo 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
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 pur-
chased 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 jQtting
colonists, industrious and peaceable men, provided by the
Association with sufficient means to till the land and to erect for
^ Modern Science in Bible Lands. By Sir John William Dawson, g.m.g.,
LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., ctc. . . . London : . . . mdccclxxxviii. pp. 449-450,
487. 522, 524, 527, 533, 536.
28o THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 famiUes, 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 experi-
enced 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 irriga-
tion 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,
‘^iith 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 oi the
Jordan by Jewish emigrants.
APPENDICES 281
*’ 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.^
** Samuel Montagu, Esq.”
LXXV
(i) Choveve 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 con-
centrated 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 Choveve 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 dis-
tinguished himself, after further study at other universities
* Palcesfina, The Chovev6 Zion Quarterly, No. 3, 1893, p. 7.
282 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
abroad, in a special branch of his science. He then settled in
Moscow. His successful medical career, however, never pre-
vented 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 Choveve 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 woik,
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 Com-
mittee. He then gave up his brilliant medical career in Moscow
to undertake a work of singular complexity and extreme heavi-
ness. 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 191 4 he was delegated,
together with ^ the author, for Zionist political, work in this
country
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 Com-
mittee. He then gave up his brilliant medical career in Moscow
to undertake a work of singular complexity and extreme heavi-
ness. 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 191 4 he was delegated,
together with ^ the author, for Zionist political, work in this
country ; and he came here again in 191 8 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 Choveve 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
nationaUstic convictions and of intense Jewish feeling, and en-
dowed 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 Choveve 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 coloniza-
tion, and throughout his whole long and fruitful career of
nationahst work, he exhibited the most indefatigable activity
and greatest courage. Having graduated at Moscow in Tech-
APPENDICES 283
nology 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 pro-
minence, 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 deter-
mination 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 pro-
gramme are written with admirable cleverness. He has Uved
now for some years in Odessa, where he is the Chairman of the
Society for the promotion of Jewish colonization work in Pales-
tine. Being Jewish NationaUst 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 levreiskam 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
brilHant ensemble of Zionist inteUectuals which has recently
been augmented by L. Jaffe, who sometimes acte i 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,
284 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 dis-
tinguished 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 Choveve 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 Pales-
tine, 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 repre-
sentative 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 188 1
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 pubUcation 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 intel-
lectual 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 Choveve Zion movement. His name is closely
connected with the history of the national Jewish movement in
APPENDICES 285
Russia. Born at Mitau, he received his elementary education at
the school founded by his father, a capable pedagogue, in Peters-
burg, 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 com-
munity. 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 Choveve 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 Choveve 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 com-
mittee 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 exer-
tions 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 cHmate of Egypt.
There, on March i8th, 1896, Vassyh 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,
286 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
was one of the first pioneers of the Choveve 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 Constan-
tinople 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 Choveve Zion movement was inaugurated. Brill, who
was well acquainted with Palestine, was chosen by Baron
Edmond de Rothschild, on the recommendation of Rabbi
Samuel Mobile wer, 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, Haeshkol 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, bom 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, dehcate Chassidic sketches, tales
of wonder, mystic and philosophical treatises and allegories, pro-
foundly 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
APPENDICES 287
Neustatt Shirvint, and now in Leeds, supported the Choveve
Zion movement, and was afterwards a delegate to the Zionist
Congress.
Joshua Eisenstadt (Barzilai), the oldest, and, as far as en-
thusiasm is concerned, still the youngest among the propa-
gandists 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 Choveve Zion. By his numerous con-
tributions to Hamelitz he helped very much in the spread of
Zionist ic 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 aesthetic 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 Almanack and in other
publications of the JUdischer 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 Organ-
ization, 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 pam.phlets.
The brothers Isaac and Boris Goldberg hold a specially dis-
tinguished 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
288 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 Choveve Zion movement, and in the Zionist Organ-
ization, 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 Familien-
papier e (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 Chris-
tianity, as a Jew could not be appointed Professor in a Gym-
nasium. In 1877 he was induced by his friend. Professor Gratz,
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, bom 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
i
2 fi^
APPENDICES 289
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.e. A. for the emigration of the Russian Jews, a question
on which he also submitted reports to the Zionist Congresses.
Dr. Jacob Kohan-Bernstein, of Kishinew, was one of the
earliest of the Choveve 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 Jeru-
salem almanac.
Joseph Lurie was bom 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 Gym-
nasium. 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 Choveve 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 Swayth-
ling) 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 Choveve Zion
Society. In the same year he undertook a journey to Paris to
II.— u
290 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 coloniza-
tion. 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 bom in Russia and educated in Berlin. His
intellectual versatility made him a leading personality in student
circles and Jewish societies, particularly in the Zionist Organiza-
tion. 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 191 4 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, bom 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 proUfic 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 Organ-
ization 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 Seek Israels (written in
Russian and translated into German) is a noteworthy contribution
to Zionist thought.
Jehiel Michael Pines (1842-19 12), 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 estabUshment of charitable institutions in
Palestine in commemoration of the name of Sir Moses Montefiore ;
in 1878 he was sent to Jemsalem to estabhsh 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, esi)ecially to those in
Palestine,
APPENDICES 291
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 counter-
acting 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, igoo). 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 pro-
minent 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 Ehen 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 (Enlighten-
ment) 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
292 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 physio-
graphic 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 sup-
ported the local Choveve 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 hap-
pened to fall. Later on, the late Salomon Gruzenberg, 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 power-
ful speaker, he possessed a special gift for propaganda, and
became one of the chief organizers of colonization in Pales-
tine. He belonged to the Zionist Organization from its incep-
tion, 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 b$^n 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 Herman and Temkin
in the St. Petersburg Students’ Palestinophile Association, took
part in the Odessa Choveve Zion meetings, and later entered the
APPENDICES 293
Zionist Organization, of which he is a prominent member. His
bent lies in the direction of work in connection w’th 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 Ihrith 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 in-
defatigable 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 un-
doubtedly 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 Choveve Zion societies increased. They
watched each other’s activities and emulated each other in
brotherly devotion. The University groups were influenced by
the Hterature 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 Choveve Zion
societies and later Zionist societies, a few of the most important
should be mentioned, as, for instance, the Odessa Group (or the
Oflicial Society), under the leadership of Pinsker, Achad Ha am,
M. L. Lilienblum, A. Griinberg (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 NationaUsm and a great worker for
the Hebrew revival in Palestine, and for his noble, almost life-
294 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
long efforts for the purpose of establishing his Hebrew library,
” Baith Neen^an,” in Jerusalem) and Nissenbaum was of great
importance duiing the lifetime of Rabbi Mohilewer and retained
a great practical influence later, especially in consequence of the
fact that the Bialystok Choveve Zion themselves took a pro-
minent 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 TerritoriaUst 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 pro-
minent 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 move-
ment. 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 NationaHst of great zest, and a contributor to Rosen-
feld’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
Choveve 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 educa-
tion he had acquired the knowledge of Hebrew), he worked side
APPENDICES 295
by side with the gifted and devoted Isaac Gninbaum, 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 Juhan KaUski, 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 Nationahst
group ” Safroth,” issued a Zionist weekly in PoUsh (Prgyszlose) ,
and pubHshed 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 hfe 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
PodUszewski, 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 Choveve 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
Choveve Zion movement Joshua Syrkin, the man of faith and
296 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 Choveve Zion period, Eisenberg, Rosen-
baum. Killer, Naiditsch, PinchasBreymar, 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 Choveve Zion move-
ment. 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 NationaUst.
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 Bimbaum, 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 Organiza-
I
APPENDICES 297
tion ; ^ 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.
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 pro-
found judge of the human soul, an even more thorough investi-
gator 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 nationahzation 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 corpora-
tion 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
^ 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 ; Amster-
dam, 1858; Warsaw, 1903). He was the author of MtwcAaiA 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.
298 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
innovators a flood of scom 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 ; en-
grossed 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 Ufe developed at Vienna
University, which began to throb with increased intensity when
the Kadimah, compelled by the conditions of the Vienna Uni-
versity, was transformed into a fighting, ” duel-bound ” associa-
tion. 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 duel-
ling 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 graduaUy increased. One association after another
came into existence : ” Unitas,” ” Ivria,” ” Gamala,’* ” Liba-
nonia,” ” Hasmonaa,” 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 hf e 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 BerUn would
make a list too long for detailed enumeration. But the following
must specially be mentioned : —
Shemaryah Levin was bom in Russia. He is an enthusiastic
nationalist, a good Hebrew scholar, and as an exceptionaUy
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
APPENDICES 299
Russia, and was Rabbi in Grodno. Later, he lived for some time
in Warsaw, where he devoted himself to Hebrew Uterary 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 Choveve 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 hved 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 bom in Russia, and brought up from
his infancy in an intensely assimilated (Russianized) environ-
ment. His father was a judge at Simferopol, but the son became
irresistibly drawn towards Jewish nationalism. He was much
influenced by the Berhn Students’ Group. An accomphshed
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 Choveve 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 Wei zm ANN, who was born in Russia, was already in his
boyhood very active in the young Choveve Zion movement. Dur-
ing his studies at the Charlottenburg Polytechnic he took a lead-
ing 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 ap-
300 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
pointed 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 establish-
ment 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 else-
where.)
Leo Motzkin, Berthold Feiwel, Martin Buber and
Joseph Lurie, also prominent in this circle, have already been
mentioned.
In the BerUn group we also come across Isidor EHaschew, a
refined critic of great artistic culture, an important contributor
to Jewish literature — mostly in Yiddish. His talents and inform-
ation 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 ;
APPENDICES 301
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 econo-
mist 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
LiHen, who have already been mentioned.
In course of time the movement spread steadily and system-
atically. Similar associations were soon founded in Heidelberg,
Munich, Leipzig, Konigsberg, Breslau, Berne, Zurich, Geneva,
Lauzanno, Montpellier and Galicia.
The Jewish University students, particularly those haiUng
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 weU 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
302 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
older Choveve 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 Choveve Zion of Russia, M. Turow, took an important part in
the Choveve Zion movement, and the late Moses of Kattowitz.
We read already, in Dr. Riilf’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 inter-
fered with ” (this circular was issued in English by Haim
Guedalla), and that is a trumpet-call of Zionism. Riilf, the
Rabbi of Memel, was a man of genius and thoroughness, who was
weU known for his talent as an author of philosophical works, a
theologian, preacher, and above all a noble character : he after-
wards 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
Choveve 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. Lowe, 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 propa-
gandist and attractive speaker ; Jungmann, a humorous,
attractive and talented writer ; Hantke, who distinguished him-
self 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) ; Ehas
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 ;
APPENDICES 303
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 whole-
hearted, ardent worker ; and at a later period, Gideon Heymann,
a young man of burning zeal and considerable attainments;
Blumenf eld, 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, Lowenberg in Jerusalem, and others in national educa-
tional work ; Richard Lichtheim, a gifted adherent to the cause ;
Rosenbliith, 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 Organ-
ization, which was in course of time supported by a representa-
tion 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 deter-
mination and an intense love of Palestine. He edited Paldstina,
AUneuland, 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 organiza-
tion, 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 economi
succeeded David Wolffsohn in 1911. Hantke, so devout in
national aspirations and with such great capacity for organiza-
tion, 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
larger t 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,
304 ^ THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 Rabin-
ovitscz, 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, Mile. 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 in-
tellectual 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 inter-
fered 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
APPENDICES 305
engaged in the Movement, he has been editor of the Welt and has
pubUshed 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 Terri-
torialist 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 propa-
ganda work ; as a writer and journalist of extraordinary cap-
abilities and of great vivacity, he became an invaluable con-
tributor to the Zionist press, particularly in Russia. Lastly, we
must mention the Montpellier group, with its leaders : Mohilewer,
Kalwaryjski, Buchmil, Mile. Tmas (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 im-
pression. 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, Kornhauser, Reis, Waldmann, Schorr,
Zimmermann, Samuel Rapaport, Balaban and many others —
II. — x
3o6 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 Gahcia.
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 Uni-
versity 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 Choveve 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 Choveve 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 Choveve 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 inter-
ested in the movement. The Bilu Society sent twenty pro-
pagandists all over Russia, with the result that 525 members
joined. The central office was in Charkow. The Society even-
tually 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
APPENDICES 307
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 diffi-
culties 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 in-
fluential members of the Jewish community, was formed to
collect subscriptions for the same object. The Palestine Colon-
ization 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 Lobel, 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 com-
mission to Palestine to purchase land (E. Cohn, Helman, Denirer-
man) . 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 Choveve 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
3o8 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 Choveve Zion Society (called
” Ahirath Zion “), with Perez Smolenskin, Dr. Schnirer and
Kremenezky was already in existence. M. Feinberg was intro-
duced to various committees which promised contributions,
provided the Paris Choveve Zion would head the list. M. Fein-
berg 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 Israelite, 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 coloniza-
tion by immigrants had been formed. This pioneer group natur-
ally 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 Httle group
soon found itself in a deplorable condition ; some of them, over-
whelmed 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 ideahsts
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 — aU three veterans
of the struggle for the survival on the land.
But all these difiiculties only stimulated the efforts of other
new pioneers. The Bilu stirred up the enthusiasm of all noble-
minded Jewish students at the Russian Universities.
APPENDICES 309
(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, llie 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 litera-
ture. 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 Hamagid, and after Gordon’s death was for a
time editor of that paper. At that time he ardently supported
Jewish nationalism and the Choveve 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 bio-
graphies. 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
310 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 Hashachar, 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 feeUng 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 Choveve 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 pubhcist, 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, bom in Gahcia, 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 nation-
alist 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 promi-
nent 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 inter-
national Jewish problem. In Hebrew Uterature he is one of the
best critics and essayists. He writes excellent Hebrew, and has
sound literary judgment.
Eleasar Eisenstadt, bom 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.
APPENDICES 311
Zalman Epstein, of Odessa, now in Warsaw, who belonged to
the Achad Ha’ am circle, and was Secretary of the Choveve 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 predilec-
tion 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 Encyclopaedia, 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, mediaeval 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
312 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 rhyth-
mical system. A selection of his works appeared posthumously
in Odessa (1907), with an introduction by A chad 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
Choveve 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 hen 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 deaUng with talmudical
matters. An ardent nationalist, he has been connected with the
Choveve Zion movement since it began. He has lived in Palestine
and has published his observations and experiences in an inter-
esting 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 BibUcal and historical studies. He was for many years
lecturer at the Rabbinical College in Odessa. Palciitinian
nationahsm 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, Uved during the most important
period of his life in Odessa, where he was a prominent member of
the Choveve 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
APPENDICES 313
contributed to the Hebrew press f euilletons 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 Radosh-
kevitsch, 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 Choveve Zion movement, and was for many
years Secretary of the Warsaw Choveve Zion. He was an ardent
and active Zionist from the very beginning of the Zionist Organ-
ization. In close connection with Rabbi Mobile ver, 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
Choveve Zion affairs, but also with Russian- Jewish affairs gener-
ally, particularly during the period of the pogroms. He was a
zealous and devoted Jewish national worker, was assistant editor
of the Hazefirah, 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 Encyclopaedia
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
Choveve Zion movement. He edited Ha'pardes, contributed to
314 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
several reviews, and is one of the principal editors and authors
working for the Moriah in Odessa.
A. J. Slutzki, bom and living in Russia, was an able and
shrewd Zionist publicist. He contributed to Ha'melitz under
J. L. Gordon, and actively assisted the Choveve Zion propaganda. ^
O. Taviev, born in Russia, lives in Moscow. He is one of the
most prominent Hebrew journahsts, 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 helles lettres. His principal services, however,
lie in the domain of pedagogy.
Joshua Thon, bom 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 PoUsh 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, bom 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 compre-
hensiveness 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 Choveve 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, bom 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 Tal-
mudist of emdition, 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 TerritoriaUsm. In recent
* He was killed, together with his wife, in a pogrom which took place
at Novograd Sieversk in 191 8.
APPENDICES 315
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 ideaUstic 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 modem novelists
Feuerstein, Jehuda Steinberg, Berschadski and Grassin ; Eleasar
Atlas the sharp-witted critic, M. A. Schatzkes, who notwith-
standing 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 ; Dubze-
vitch ; Edelman ("Adulami"); Maskileison ; the learned and
thoughtful Joseph Rosenthal ; the serious scholars Jacob Bach-
rach ; 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. MarguHes ; Hirsch Rabinovitch ;
and Sosnitz, who introduced natural science into Hebrew litera-
ture ; 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. Jn 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 hterature.
Great attention and acknowledgment are due to David Fisch-
mann, 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 noveUst 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 mathe-
matician, Ch. J. Bornstein (who translated Hamlet into Hebrew) ;
the bibliographer, Wiener ; the orientahst, 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 journaHst and talmudical critic, Benzion
Katz ; the talented modem novelists : Brenner, Schofman,
Berkowitsch, Kaabak ; Sneur, the young poet of vigour and
3i6 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 deUcacy of taste is
accompanied by versatile and roaming fancy. Shalom Asch, the
greatest in the coterie of the artists of the PoHsh 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 estabUshed a
reputation as correspondent and an essayist of admirable skill.
He worked with great devotion and success in the Zionist pro-
paganda. 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 fife
to the national idea, and supported the Choveve Zion move-
ment.
It is impossible to enumerate all the Hterary 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 Hterary abiUty
in a series of pamphlets dealing with Palestine. J. Menuchas,
who was bom and is still hving 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 ideal-
istic, scientific work at Rechoboth. Isaac Epstein now lives in
APPENDICES 317
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 GaUlee, 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 YeUin, 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, Bograt-
schow, Turow, Mossinsohn, Alexander Rabinowitsch, Lurie,
Zutta, Segal, Schiller, Ladyshewski, Marschak, Biram, Tachower,
Rosenstein, Ziphroni, Feldmann, Mowschensohn, Ozerkowsky,
JehieU, Papper. Others added merely their young modern
efforts to the briUiant 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 Klein-
mann, 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 speeches^; 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 Hamelitz 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 peda-
gogical books, but best known by his innumerable contributions
^ He died in 191 8 at Kiew.
3i8 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
to the Hebrew press ; Lazar, the able editor of Hamitzpeh in
Cracow ; M. M. Pross of Warsaw, a judicious writer of causeries
and criticisms in the old style ; Ch. Z. Zagorodzki of Warsaw,
a pohshed Hebrew stylist, author of several fine sketches, for
many years one of the principal collaborators of Ha'zefirah ;
Shimon 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
Choveve 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.
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 feeUng.
LXXVI
Note upon the Alliance Israelite Universelle and the
Anglo- Jewish Association
In considering the relationship of the Alliance Israelite Univer-
selle 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 con-
fronted 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 nationaUst spirit, charac-
APPENDICES 319
teristic of their earlier days. M. Charles Netter, Dr. Abraham
Benisch, Dr. Albert Lowy and Mr. Baron Louis Benas, j.p.
(M. Netter, one of the founders of the Alliance, Dr. Benisch,
Dr. Lowy and Mr. Benas, associated with the establishment of
the Anglo- Jewish Association) were all men of Jewish Nationahst
sympathies. M. Netter is permanently identified with the foun-
dation 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 Israelite was made by Mr. Benas, who had
estabhshed 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. Cremieux. Dr. Benisch had
in his student days inaugurated with Dr. Lowy 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. Lowy were active propa-
gandists on behalf of the Association. Mr. Benas and Dr. Lowy
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 Pales-
tine 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
320 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
Ancient Jewish Homeland. The late Chief Rabbi gave an oral
account of the educational institutions in Palestine to the Execu-
tive Committee of the Association. Mr. Benas' " Report of his
Travels in the East " wsls 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
EngUsh 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 Agricul-
tural 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 pro-
duced 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 com-
plete 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-
APPENDICES 321
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 exag-
gerating 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 in-
digent 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 advan-
tage of superior construction. The defects in earlier construc-
tions have here been carefully avoided.
The Yemen Jews are very poor ; they present a most pecu-
liar 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,
ii.~y
322 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 £lys6es, in Paris, instituting a comparison between
those neighbourhoods and the lanes of Jerusalem. But I main-
tain 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 Israelite
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
APPENDICES 323
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
I 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 excel-
lent 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 conversa-
tion. 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 con-
trast 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 smaU. The soil around Hebron is
most fertile, and the natural resources of the immediate neigh-
bourhood 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 educa-
tion 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 Hfe in the Ancient Homeland. In its earUest days the
Anglo- Jewish Association received from members of the Board
324 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 Dnnn ^ir\^'> >>D. 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 Inter-
national 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 recog-
nition and the gratitude of all who hold to the Jewish national
ideal and strive for its fulfilment.
[The Reports of the Alliance Israelite Universelle and the
Anglo- Jewish Association contain much valuable material for the
History of the Resettlement in Palestine.]
APPENDICES 325
LXXVII
An Appeal of the Berlin K a dim a
In 1891 the Russian Jewish Students’ Colony in BerHn 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 stree.m 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
(i) 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 recommenda-
tion 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 Rot
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 over-
looked. Only in a country where every stone bears biblical
326
THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 VI. Temkin, that in London enormous
meetings are being held in favour of the Palestine idea, that
Umited 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.
LXXVIIl
The Jewish Colonies in Palestine
(The figures are taken mostly from the Report of the Jewish Colonisation
Association for 1910.)
Name.
Year.
Area.
Hectares.
Popula-
tion.
Gross
Income.
Francs.
I. JUDEA.
Mikveh-TsraeP . . .
1870
225
150
—
Mozah …..
1873
59
28
—
Petach-Tikvah
1878
2275
1500
466,971
Katra . . . . .
1882
500
150
76,415
Rishon-le-Zion
1882
ii8o
1 190
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
—
1 nni Hjr’i i_ T 1 /^_1 i_ –
•i J 1
__j ‘J- _ir
T_,<T_ ^_
j^i J t
* The Mikveh Israel Colony is situated outside of Jaffa, to the south.
The Alliance Israilite Universelle has here a fine and large agricultural
school for Jews. At the time of our visit — in 191 4 — about 150 pupils were
APPENDICES
327
Area.
Popula-
Gross
Name.
Year.
Hectares.
tion.
Income.
Francs.
IT. Samaria.
Zichron Jacob
1882
1850
1000
183,210
Um-el-Dschemal
1S89
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
TOO
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 .
.
I9IO
450
100
Merchavyah
.
I9II
900
100
Poriah .
•
I9II
350
30
IV. Trans-jordania.
Bene Yehuda ….
1888
315
83
—
enrolled. Some of them we found in the well-kept garden, weeding and
hoeing. Others were engaged in planting through a newly planted vine-
yard. Still another group were piling brush and rubbish ; while a con-
siderable 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.
328
THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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332 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 lakoh 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 1
*' * 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-f6. 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 civiliza-
tion, 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 ?
APPENDICES 333
" 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 : —
** I. 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 un-
limited.
" What we want : —
" I. 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 {nee Belkind), Dr. Chissin,
Drubin, Swerdloff, Leibowitz, Hurwitz and Zaladichin. — Of the
veterans of the ChovevS 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, Tubman,
Freimann in Rishon ; Idelowitz, now in Alexandria, managing
the " Carmel " Wine business ; Eisenberg, Goldin, Hirschen-
sohn, Mme. Basia Makow in Rechoboth, and of the old " Menu-
cha 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.
334 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 sow-
ings 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 pro-
gressing renascence. ^
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 ex-
perienced. Since, in the most favourable conditions, present-
day Judaism contains only the material and the elements of trans-
formation 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 trans-
mutes 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 stand-
point of the nationalist and that of the artist. We shall, there-
fore, confine ourselves to a brief outline of the evolution of Jewish
artistic activity in painting and sculpture in modem times, with-
out 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
* Martin Buber, JM. KUnst., Lesser Ury.
APPENDICES 335
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. Munkacsy ; 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 L^vy, 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, 181 1 {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, dis-
tinguished himself among German painters of his time for his
remarkable correctness in drawing ; Friedrich Friedlaender,
bom in Vienna, 1825 {d. 1895), displayed the peculiar style of
" Viennois " painting of his time ; Toby Rosenthal, bom in
New Haven, U.S.A., 1848, was a disciple of Pilloty, and en-
deavoured to emulate his master ; Herman Junker, Frankfurt
(b. 1838) ; Karl Blosz, Munich ; Edmund Edel, Charlottenburg ;
Julius Ester, Munich ; August Gross, Vienna ; TuUo Massarini,
336 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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, Petofi ; 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, Frere d'Orban ; Moses Jacob
Ezekiel, born in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A., 1844, who estab-
lished 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 Levy
(" 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
APPENDICES 337
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.^
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 Lieber-
mann, and Solomon J. Solomon, r.a.
It was Joseph Israels who succeeded in representing the twi-
lights 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 atmos
phere, not forcible but imbued with poetic feeling ; to invest
human nature with a breath of such delicate lyricism that the
^ 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 1 490 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 repre-
sentations combine whatever constitutes Israel's pride and grief ; what-
ever in the pages of history is capable of inspiring the champion of Israel
with courage and zeal " {Allg. Zeit. d. Judenthums, 10 September, 1842).
lU—Z
338 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 sub-
jects, 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, hght 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 concentra-
tion 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 rela-
tion to nature.
Encyclopaedias 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 encyclopaedias.
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 charac-
teristic 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
APPENDICES 339
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 centur}^ 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
340 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 i860 (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 dark-
ness, 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 in-
tense 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 Guenzburg, 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 re-
production of details deaUng with nature. They are devoted
to the art of sculpture in Paris and in Russia.
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
apprecial^le 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
APPENDICES 341
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 i860,
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 e vero e 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 impor-
tant of which was his admirable " Jew Praying in the Syna-
gogue." 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 modem tendencies of a
somewhat independent young Jewish art. As to the artistic
value and originaUty 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
342 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
and self-inspiring basis. The message of Gottlieb and the
impulses of LiUen 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 con-
temporaries 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 pre-
disposition 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 per-
ception, 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 sad-
ness 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 Piiichowski 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
APPENDICES 343
a keen observer of life, of charming personality, and an enthusi-
astic 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 con-
siderable 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 pre-
sumptuous 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 con-
structive ability. He, too, is a dreamer of the Ghetto, but at the
same time a master of a living art. His " Messiah," the incarna-
tion 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
344 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 — Gabo-
witsch, 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, Kramstiick,
Ehe 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 men-
tioned. 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 admir-
ably dealt with in some of the pictures. He is a strong in-
dividualist 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 skiU.
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 un-
favourable circumstances in a comparatively short time, showed
I
APPENDICES 345
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 direc-
tions : —
(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 stand-
point 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 ideal-
istically 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 im-
pression.
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
346 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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, Choveve 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 move-
ment for propaganda amd 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
Phcenix, Lihanon, the monthly Os/ und West, and other publications.
Summing up the elfects 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 im-
portant 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 en-
noble, 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.
APPENDICES 347
LXXXI
Progress of Zionism in the West since 1897
I. 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 conti-
nental countries. In England, where class divisions are so pro-
nounced, 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 centraHzation of the financial
institutions and the greater facility for political organization
were no doubt of considerable advantage, as they afforded Eng-
lish 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 concen-
trated on these two appeals. The consequences of such a de-
velopment manifested themselves in two directions : in the
influence upon the Organization, and in the effect on non-mem-
bers 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 ad-
mitted 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
th€y reaUzed 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 compara-
348 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
lively 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 respon-
sible. If all its potentialities have not yet been developed, there
is no reason why they should not be so very soon. Notwith-
standing 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 pro-
ceeded to the Jewish Seminary, Breslau, where in due course he
received his rabbinical diploma. He is also a Doctor of Phil-
osophy of the University of Leipsic. He pubhshed numerous
important works on the Roumanian language and literature, and
on the subject of folklore, on which he is one of the first authori-
ties. 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 pro-
duced the first excellent translation of the Hebrew Prayer Book
into Roumanian. In 1885 he left Roumania and came to Eng-
land, where he was appointed Haham of the Spanish and Portu-
guese Congregations in succession to the late Haham Dr. Artom
(1887). This office he resigned in 1918. He brought new life into
I
APPENDICES 349
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. Pro-
foundly touched by the unfortunate position of the Jews in
Roumania, he assisted in estabhshing 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
Choveve 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 con-
nection with which organization he recently helped to found a
land company for the purchase of land in Palestine. He is in-
defatigable 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 ZangwiU may be described as one of the most distin-
guished 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 dis-
credited 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 prominen
332 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 lakoh 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 1
*’ * 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-f6. 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 civiliza-
tion, 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 ?
APPENDICES 333
” 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 : —
** I. 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 un-
limited.
” What we want : —
” I. 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 {nee Belkind), Dr. Chissin,
Drubin, Swerdloff, Leibowitz, Hurwitz and Zaladichin. — Of the
veterans of the ChovevS 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, Tubman,
Freimann in Rishon ; Idelowitz, now in Alexandria, managing
the ” Carmel ” Wine business ; Eisenberg, Goldin, Hirschen-
sohn, Mme. Basia Makow in Rechoboth, and of the old ” Menu-
cha 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.
334 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 sow-
ings 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 pro-
gressing renascence. ^
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 ex-
perienced. Since, in the most favourable conditions, present-
day Judaism contains only the material and the elements of trans-
formation 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 trans-
mutes 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 stand-
point of the nationalist and that of the artist. We shall, there-
fore, confine ourselves to a brief outline of the evolution of Jewish
artistic activity in painting and sculpture in modem times, with-
out 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
* Martin Buber, JM. KUnst., Lesser Ury.
APPENDICES 335
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. Munkacsy ; 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 L^vy, 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, 181 1 {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, dis-
tinguished himself among German painters of his time for his
remarkable correctness in drawing ; Friedrich Friedlaender,
bom in Vienna, 1825 {d. 1895), displayed the peculiar style of
” Viennois ” painting of his time ; Toby Rosenthal, bom in
New Haven, U.S.A., 1848, was a disciple of Pilloty, and en-
deavoured to emulate his master ; Herman Junker, Frankfurt
(b. 1838) ; Karl Blosz, Munich ; Edmund Edel, Charlottenburg ;
Julius Ester, Munich ; August Gross, Vienna ; TuUo Massarini,
336 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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, Petofi ; 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, Frere d’Orban ; Moses Jacob
Ezekiel, born in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A., 1844, who estab-
lished 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 Levy
(” 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
APPENDICES 337
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.^
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 Lieber-
mann, and Solomon J. Solomon, r.a.
It was Joseph Israels who succeeded in representing the twi-
lights 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 atmos
phere, not forcible but imbued with poetic feeling ; to invest
human nature with a breath of such delicate lyricism that the
^ 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 1 490 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 repre-
sentations combine whatever constitutes Israel’s pride and grief ; what-
ever in the pages of history is capable of inspiring the champion of Israel
with courage and zeal ” {Allg. Zeit. d. Judenthums, 10 September, 1842).
lU—Z
338 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 sub-
jects, 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, hght 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 concentra-
tion 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 rela-
tion to nature.
Encyclopaedias 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 encyclopaedias.
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 charac-
teristic 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
APPENDICES 339
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 centur}^ 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
340 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 i860 (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 dark-
ness, 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 in-
tense 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 Guenzburg, 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 re-
production of details deaUng with nature. They are devoted
to the art of sculpture in Paris and in Russia.
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
apprecial^le 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
APPENDICES 341
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 i860,
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 e vero e 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 impor-
tant of which was his admirable ” Jew Praying in the Syna-
gogue.” 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 modem tendencies of a
somewhat independent young Jewish art. As to the artistic
value and originaUty 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
342 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
and self-inspiring basis. The message of Gottlieb and the
impulses of LiUen 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 con-
temporaries 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 pre-
disposition 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 per-
ception, 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 sad-
ness 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 Piiichowski 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
APPENDICES 343
a keen observer of life, of charming personality, and an enthusi-
astic 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 con-
siderable 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 pre-
sumptuous 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 con-
structive ability. He, too, is a dreamer of the Ghetto, but at the
same time a master of a living art. His ” Messiah,” the incarna-
tion 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
344 THE HISTORY OF ZIONISM
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 — Gabo-
witsch, 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, Kramstiick,
Ehe Nadelman and others of Warsaw, a real Jewish awakening
has been observed, particularly among the younger members of
the colony