(Translated from the _Palestine Daily Mail_ of Friday, December 2nd,
1921).
Those who felt stirred to celebrate the jubilee of this illustrious old
pioneer did very well indeed. For a young man who leaves all his
business enterprises far behind him in London and who migrates to
Eretz-Israel over fifty years ago--at a time when Jaffe did not posses
even a Minyan foreign Jews; and at a time when the way from Jaffe to
Jerusalem was a very long and tedious one--aye, a way fraught with all
possible dangers, and moreover, teeming with robbers, a journey which
lasted three whole days, such a Jew is indeed entitled to some mark of
appreciation and respect.
A Jew who has worked for the re-building of our land for over fifty
consecutive years in which period he visited the lands of the Diaspora
fifteen times and all that he did and profited there was afterwards
invested in the re-building of Eretz-Israel such a Jew has indeed
merited to be praised even during his life-time.
A Jew who was one of the first to found the colony of Petah-Tikvah and
therefore merited that people in Jerusalem should mark him out as an
object of derision and scorn because he was a dreamer--a man who built
the first house in this Petah-Tikvah--who was one of the founders of the
"Me'ah Shearim in Jerusalem--who constructed perfect roads in Jaffe--who
founded Zionist Societies in the lands of the Diaspora at a time when
Zion did not occupy such a foremost part in the heart of the Jew--such a
Jew is indeed worthy that a monument of his splendid achievement be
erected for him even during his life-time!"
It must, moreover, be mentioned that Z. Barnett and his wife are one of
the remnant of those noble men who participated in that famous assembly
of Kattovitz--that noble gathering of illustrious men which can be
verily described as the Aurora as the Dawn of the conception of the
Restoration of the land of Israel.
The celebration took place on Sunday, November 27th, in the private
house of Mr. Barnett. Those who had assembled were many, in fact, there
were present representatives of every shade and section of Jewish
communal life in Palestine. Thus there came along Rabbis of all the
various congregations, various Jewish communal workers, heads of
colonies, teachers, business men and workpeople and even beggars who
came to enjoy the material blessings of this great national festivity.
Mr. Joseph Lipshitz opened the proceedings by explaining the importance
of this great red letter day for Mr. Barnett and then called upon Rabbi
Auerbach of Jerusalem who had come specially to take part in this
celebration. Rabbi Auerbach delivered a long Talmudical dissertation in
which he recited the great merits of the jubilant. He compared Z.
Barnett to a king, because he based himself on a Talmudic statement
concerning Omri which asserts that he who builds a little town or
village is worthy to be called a king. The learned Rabbi also emphasised
the importance of acquiring land in Palestine by many pithy remarks.
Then spoke the Rabbis: Joseph Ha-levi, Shneiur Lenskin, Joseph Arwatz
and Joseph Rabbi. All these testified to the great qualities of their
host, who besides being a great idealist was also a very practical man
too.
After the Rabbis, Mr. S. Nissim, chief of the colony of Petah-Tikvah
spoke. He narrated in a very realistic and eloquent way how that pioneer
Zorach Barnett came fifty years ago to build up the ruins of the land
and how he bought up the land of Petah-Tikvah, which was now a
flourishing colony, but which was then a howling desert wilderness, such
as only insane men could ever think of converting this into an
habitation of men. At the present day, thousands of pioneers are
flocking to the land, but they are only a continuation of the pioneering
of Z. Barnett and his stalwart companions. The speaker concluded by
blessing the jubilant that he should survive to see thousands of Jewish
Colonies in Palestine and tens of thousands of pioneers flocking here
from every part of the world.
Mr. I. Adler, chief representative of the Council at Jaffe, also spoke
on this great member of the Jewish community at Jaffe. Such men are
really a blessing to the whole of Israel; they are not only Banim (sons)
of the Jewish people, but also Bonim (builders).
Many were the letters and telegrams of congratulation received on this
occasion from various ranks of Jewish representatives in Palestine. The
private secretary of Sir Herbert Samuel wrote: "I am commanded by His
Excellency, the High Commissioner, to acknowledge your invitation to
partake in your celebration of the 27th inst. His Excellency, is,
however, restrained from accepting this invitation owing to the various
duties which occupy him at present. He sends you his blessing and hopes
that all your ambitions will be realised with, the greatest success."
The Chief Rabbi of Eretz-Israel, Rabbi A.I. Kook, wrote: "I should very
much have wished to be present at the occasion of the jubilee of my dear
and respected friend, who first trod upon this Holy soil over fifty
years ago and who has since then been building up the ruins of our land,
but, unfortunately, to my great pain, I am not able to realise this my
wish, owing to the present troubled state of the Jewish community.
Please accept my heartiest blessings for a happy old age, in which you
may verily see the re-birth of our People and of our land."
Rabbi Rabbinowitz wrote: "I bless our jubilant from the depths of my
heart. This occasion is not only a happy one for him, it is also for us.
This shows that though the enemies of re-building Palestine were, and
are still, many, Palestine is, nevertheless, steadily but surely being
rebuilt."
Mr. Diznoff, in the name of the Colony of Tel-Avis wrote: "On this great
occasion, we should like to say, that as you have merited to see that
the "howling desert" you have found, you have succeeded in creating into
a "Garden of Eden," thus may you merit to see the flourishing state of
the whole of Palestine."
Mr. Ephraim Blumenfeld wrote: "Though I should have very much have
liked to be present, yet my present bad state of health does not enable
me to do so. This is a happy moment for all lovers of Zion. May you
merit to see with your own eyes the restoration of Israel on its own
land."
Messages and telegrams were also received from the Yeshivah Me'ah
Shearim, Mr. D. Slutskin, from the scholars of the Yeshivah "Or Zoraiah"
of Jaffa and many synagogues. Also from Mr. Friedenberg of Jerusalem,
Mr. S. Tolkovsky, Dr. Eliash, from the Chief Rabbi of Alexandria, from
the "Old Aged" Home in Jaffe, from the Mizrachi, from Rabbi S.L. Shapiro
of Jerusalem, etc., etc.
At the request of the host, who is a British subject, a special prayer
was offered up for the Divine protection of King George the Fifth, and
also prayers in the name of R. Barnett for the health of the High
Commissioner, the Secretary, the leaders of the Zionist
Movement--Weitzman, Sokolov and Usishkin, for the Chief Rabbis of
Palestine and for the Rabbi Sonnenfeld, Rabbis Diskin, Epstein, etc.,
etc.
Mr. Barnett offered a certain sum in the name of each, and among the
numerous institutions to which he contributed were the following: Hebrew
Archaeological Society at Jerusalem, the building of a synagogue on the
site of the Old Temple Wall, the school for the blind, the poor of
Jaffe, the Home for Aged Jews, etc., etc.
Mr. Barnett was then enrolled in the Golden Book by those present. Great
indeed was the honour which R. Zorach Barnett and his wife received on
that day, but they were really worthy of it.
May theirs be an example to others!