purpose of foundations, principally to build homesteads for the workers.
The principal contributions under this heading have been: The David and
Fanny Wolffsohn Foundation, about £3000, and the Halperin Foundation
(Vienna), about £4000. Besides the foregoing sums other contributions
towards the Workers’ Homestead Fund, amounting to about £17,000 in all,
have been received.
The total income from every kind of contribution to the Fund was about
£25,000 for the year 1915, contributions having come from about thirty
different countries in all parts of the world.
By the end of the year 1914 the Jewish National Fund had invested in
Palestine close upon £150,000――70 per cent of its entire assets.
The members of the Company are the holders of founders’ shares of the
Jewish Colonial Trust, Ltd. (see above).
The administration of the Fund is in the hands of a Board of Directors,
consisting of five Directors elected by the members, and two Governors
appointed by the Controlling Committee. This Committee consists of the
persons who for the time being form the Smaller Actions Committee of
the Zionist Congress, and its functions are merely those of vetoing or
prohibiting any act of the Directors that the Committee may deem to be
detrimental to the interests of the Association.
The present Directors are: Dr. Max Bodenheimer, L. Kessler, J.
Kremenetzky, and Dr. A. Hantke.
The only Governor is Professor Dr. O. Warburg (the second
Governor, D. Wolffsohn, having died in September, 1914).
The Secretary of the Association was H. Neumann, and its
registered office is at 10‒12 Walbrook, London, E.C.
The Administrative Office of the Association is situate at
the Hague, and the principal officials at that office are:
Engineer J. Kaplansky, N. Gross and S. Hallenstein.
Central offices exist in many countries for the collecting
of contributions and donations to the Fund. The addresses of
these officers are:――
Argentine: Federacion Sionista en Argentine, Buenos-Aires,
Sarmiento 2086.
Australia: The Brisbane Zionist Society, c/o J. A. Blumberg,
Hon. Sec., Brisbane-East, Wellington Road.
The Victoria Zionist Association, “_Hatchiah_,” Melbourne,
313 Drummont Street, Carlton.
The Sydney Zionist Society, c/o M. B. Michelson, Hon. Sec.,
Sydney, Pett Street 64.
Belgium: Oscar Fischer, now at Scheveningen, Cornelius Jolstr.
105 Sam. Schmeidler, Scheveningen, Stevinstr. 142.
Brazil: Associacio Zionistat _Tiferes Zion_, c/o Jaime
Horowitz, Rio de Janeiro, Rua Visconte Itanna.
Bulgaria: Comité Central Sioniste, aux bons soins de Mr. le
Dr. Benroya, Philippopoli.
Canada: Bureau Committee of the Federation of Zionist
Societies of Canada, Montreal, P.O. Box 912.
China: E. B. Ezra, Esq., c/o the Bank of Territorial
Development of China, Shanghai, Nanking Rd. 33.
Denmark: S. Skorochod, Kopenhagen, Bordergade 30.
Egypt: Jacob Caleff, Heliopolis-Le Cairo, Rue Zagazig.
Germany: Jüdischer Nationalfonds, Zentrale für Deutschland,
Berlin, W., 15 Sachsische Str. 8.
England: Jewish National Fund Commission for England, 15 New
Broad Street, London, E.C. 2.
France: J. Salzmann, Paris, 41 Rue de la Tour d’Auvergne.
Greece: Syllogue Sioniste “_Poale-Sion_,” Volo.
La Commission Mixte de Fonds National des Sociétés
“_Bené Sion_” and “Nordau” aux bons soins de Mr. J. Usiel,
Salonique.
Holland: Alfred Polak, Tilburg, Telegraafenstr. 1.
Italy: Mademoiselle Emma Coen, Verona, 14 Via Gran Czara.
Croatia, Bosnia, Slavonia: Frau Clara Barmaper-Jacobi, Agram,
Boskovicg 23.
New Zealand: The Auckland Zionist Society, Auckland Park Rd. 42.
United States of America: Jewish National Fund Bureau for
America, New York City, 44 E. 23rd Street.
Norway: Norske Zionist Forening, p. Adr. Aron Grusd,
Christiania, Karl Johan Str. 7.
Austria: Jüdischer Nationalfonds, Sammelstelle für Österreich,
Wein ii Zirkusgasse 33.
Eastern Asia: Josef Levy, Singapore, 10 Robinson Road.
Portugal: W. Terlo, Lissabon, Rua St. Nicolau 59.
Roumania: M. Heinrich Schein, Galatz.
Switzerland: W. Simon, Zürich, Neugasse 11.
Serbia: Dr. D. Alcalay, Belgrad.
Sweden: J. Abel, Stockholm, Storkyrkobrinken 8.
South Africa: South African Zionist Federation, Mr. B. J.
Chaimowitz, Johannesburg, P.O. Box 18.
Tunis: Association Sioniste Tunisienne, Tunis, 52 Rue des
Glacières.
Hungary: Zsido Nomzoti Alap magyarorszagi irodaja, Budapest
Kiraly utca 36.
* * * * *
In England the collection of funds is entrusted to the
National Fund Commission for England. This commission consists
of two representatives of the English Zionist Federation
and two representatives of the Order of Ancient Maccabeans.
The office of the Commission is at 15 New Broad Street, London,
E.C. 2, which has a number of sub-commissions in London and
the principal provincial towns. It organizes frequently
house-to-house collections, flower days, collections at public
meetings, places of worship and entertainment, etc.
The English National Fund Commission has recently published a small
pamphlet, giving full particulars of its activities. A larger pamphlet,
entitled _The Jewish National Fund_, is now being issued in the English
language by the Head Office of the Fund, and by the time that this book
reaches the public will no doubt be obtainable at the Office of the
National Fund Commission in London.
5. _The Palestine Land Development Company, Ltd._
This Company was registered on the 20th of January, 1909. Its main
object is to encourage the settlement of Jews in Palestine by the
purchase and parcelling out of the land and by preparing the soil for
the successful settlement of a larger number of small holders.
The nominal capital of the Company is £50,000, divided into 40,000
ordinary shares of £1 each and 200 founders’ shares of £50 each.
The Secretary of the Company is W. Wolf, and the Office at 10‒12
Walbrook, London, E.C.
6. _Jüdischer Kulturfonds Kedem
(Kedem Keren Hatarbuth Hoiwrith), Ltd._
This Company was established for the purpose of developing and
promoting and assisting in the development and promotion of Jewish
knowledge and learning, the cultivation of Hebrew literature and
Jewish history, and the revival and use of the Hebrew language in
the prescribed region (which expression means Palestine, Syria and
the Peninsula of Sinai). In order to carry out these objects the
Company aims at establishing an Academy (_Sinhedrijah_) as a central
institution of Hebrew and Jewish learning. It further intends to
publish all kinds of books, useful for its purpose, and distribute them
among individuals, academies, colleges, universities, schools and other
institutions. It also proposes to establish and maintain all kinds
of schools and teaching establishments, to promote the main object
of the Company. Among its many ancillary objects are the granting of
scholarships, and the subsidizing of funds, pension schemes, etc., for
maintaining Jewish authors, teachers and artists.
The foundation of the Company is due to the initiative of Mr. Moses
Feldstein of Warsaw, who contributed the sum of about £1500. In
commemoration of this fact a Fund was created under the name of
“Feldstein Foundation,” which is to comprise the aforementioned sum
and all other capital donations given to the Company from time to time
towards this Fund. Since the establishment of the Company several other
similar contributions have been made to the Fund, but the outbreak of
the war has prevented the founder of the Company, Mr. Feldstein, and
his co-directors from carrying out the vigorous propaganda which they
intended to set on foot in all parts of the world. The members of the
Company consist of the joint holders of the founders’ shares of the
Jewish Colonial Trust, the Directors of the Jewish National Fund, and
the President of the Odessa Committee (the Committee of the Company
for assisting Jewish Agriculturists and Handicraftsmen in Syria and
Palestine).
The Directors of the Company are M. Feldstein (Chairman),
Dr. A. Hantke, Dr. S. Levin, A. Podlischewsky, N. Sokolow,
M. Ussischkin, Dr. Ch. Weizmann.
The Secretary of the Company is W. Wolf, and the office is at
10‒12 Walbrook, London, E.C.
7. _The First London Achuzah Company, Ltd._
The First London _Achuzah_ Company, Ltd., was founded by Dr. J. M.
Salkind, with the assistance of Mr. M. Rosenblum and Mr. T. Z. Teacher,
in April, 1913, when fifteen members joined the Company. Towards
the end of 1913 the number of members amounted to fifty. It has now
increased to eighty, about fifty of whom live in London, fifteen in
Edinburgh, one in Russia and the rest in provincial towns in England.
The Company was incorporated as a limited liability company in England
at the beginning of 1914. The members decided to pay 25 per cent of the
amount subscribed by them (a full member’s share amounting to £300).
At the same time the Company sent two delegates to Palestine to make
investigations with a view to the purchase of suitable land. This
was in February, 1914, after fifty members had paid up an aggregate
sum of £4000. The two delegates who proceeded to Palestine were Dr.
J. M. Salkind and Mr. H. Sterling. The nominal capital of the Company
amounted on registration to £15, 000, but was increased in August, 1914,
to £25,000, and it is now intended to increase it again to £50,000.
Most of the members have already paid the Company more than one-third
of the amount of their shares (£120 on each £300 share). Some of the
members have taken more than one share――one and a half, two, two and
a half, and in one case three shares. About half of the members belong
to the artisan class, while the other half consist mostly of merchants.
The Company intends to establish also an industrial _Achuzah_, for
the purpose of encouraging and establishing industrial undertakings in
Palestine.
When the delegates came back from Palestine, they proposed the purchase
of the second half of Kerkur, the first half of which belongs to Mr.
Schlesinger (a Zionist of Chita, Siberia), and covers an area of 5134
dunam (about 1280 acres). The proposal was accepted in May, 1914, and
the Company paid half of the purchase price, which amounted to £8850.
The purchase was made through the Palestine Land Development Co., Ltd.,
London.
From that time onwards the membership in London, Cairo, and the two
small branch companies in Paris and Antwerp, increased considerably.
The progress thus achieved induced the Company to increase the extent
of its holding in Palestine, and it purchased in 1914 a large area
of land called Rabia, in the neighbourhood of Kerkur, measuring about
4000 dunam (1000 acres), the purchase price being £6030. The first
instalment of £2000 has already been paid to the Palestine Land
Development Co., Ltd., in connection with this transaction.
Owing to the outbreak of the War, the work of the _Achuzah_ Company
had to be suspended, and, consequently, the branch companies in Paris,
Antwerp and Cairo collapsed. In the United Kingdom, however, and
particularly in Edinburgh, the activities of the Company have recently
been revived, and a number of new members have joined, in spite of the
unfavourable general conditions. In view of this unexpected success,
the Directors of the Company intend in the near future to remove the
restriction which prevents the Company from having more than fifty
members (it having originally been registered as a private company).
The present Directors are: L. Eisen, W. Kirsch, Ch. Inwald, Ch.
Kaufman, H. Teacher, Abraham Bendas, Ch. Warschawsky, Dr. J. M.
Salkind (Managing Director).
The land purchased by the _Achuzah_ in Palestine is most favourably
situated from the point of view of communication. From the Arabah
(Dothan) station it is only one hour’s journey by car to Toul Kerem,
a station on the new railway line from Merchawia to Lud and Beersheba.
Thus the _Achuzah_ settlement will be in a position to keep in touch
with Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem, and other places, by means of railway
communication.
8. _The Maccabean Land Company, Ltd._
The Maccabean Land Company is registered as a limited liability
company, with a capital of £52,000, divided into forty founders’ shares
(reserved for subscription by the Order of Ancient Maccabeans, its
Beacons and Allied Societies) of the value of £50 each and 1000 land
shares, offered for general subscription, of £50 each, each entitling
to an allotment of land in the proposed Maccabean Settlement. The
object of the Company is to enable its members, by the accumulation
of small periodical payments, to acquire landholdings in Palestine,
either for personal occupation or for profitable development. For
this purpose it is proposed to acquire forthwith a large area of land
(preferentially in the south of Palestine, in the district of Modin,
the ancient home of the Maccabees), capable of being parcelled out
in allotments and profitably cultivated. The minimum subscription of
£10,000 has already been assured, and the Company proposes to enter
into negotiations with one of the existing public bodies engaged in
the acquisition of land in Palestine for the purchase of an area of
land sufficient to provide allotments for all the subscribing members.
Unfortunately, the War has compelled the Company to suspend its
activities for the present.
C. HEBREW SCHOOLS IN PALESTINE,
AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS OF THE NEW COLONIZATION
The new Jewish colonization movement in Palestine has led to the
establishment of more than fifty primary schools, two high schools, two
agricultural schools, one handicraft school and one school of arts and
crafts. A polytechnic institute on a large scale, for the training of
engineers and chemists, was about to be opened when the War broke out.
Particulars concerning the Agricultural Experiment Station are given
elsewhere in this volume.
The principal schools under the care and supervision of the Zionist
Organization are the following:――
_The Hebrew Teachers’ Seminary and School of Commerce at Jerusalem_,
attended by ninety pupils. This school is situated in the centre of the
Jewish Settlement, with sufficient space for classrooms, the teachers’
room, collections of specimens and instruments for instruction in
natural science. The garden is used for drill and instruction in botany.
All graduates of the Teachers’ Seminary are teachers in Palestine,
and some of the graduates of the School of Commerce have also found
employment as teachers. The students have organized evening classes for
mothers, where they teach them to speak Hebrew, while their children
attend the Kindergarten. (The Director is M. David Yellin.)
_The Hebrew School for Boys_ at Jerusalem, attended by 205 pupils,
including a great number of Sephardim (55 per cent). This number is
continually increasing. Instruction is given in all Jewish subjects, as
well as in Mathematics, History, Geography, Botany, Singing, Drawing,
Gardening, in the Arabic language and some European languages.
(Director: M. Sutta.)
_The Girls’ School_ at Jerusalem is attended by 280 pupils, 55 per cent
of whom are Ashkenazim, and 33 per cent Sephardim, the rest belonging
to Georgian, Yemenite and Persian Jewish families. The subjects of
instruction are: Hebrew, Bible, History, Arithmetic, Geography, Zoology,
Botany, Drawing, Singing, Gardening, and Modern Languages. More than
half of the regular pupils are boarded at the School.
_The School for Kindergarten Teachers_ at Jerusalem is attended by
thirty-three pupils. Here the girls are trained to become Kindergarten
teachers. The instruction is practical as well as theoretical.
_The Hebrew Boys’ School_ at Jaffa has eight classes and is attended
by about 150 children. Pupils who have passed through this School enter
the Teachers’ Seminary at Jerusalem, the Hebrew Gymnasium (High School)
at Jaffa, or the Agricultural School at Petach-Tikvah, or take up their
parents’ trade. (Director: Dr. Marschak.)
_The Hebrew Kindergarten_ at Haifa is attended by seventy children, and
is developing satisfactorily.
_The Hebrew School_ at Haifa has 104 scholars (ninety-seven Ashkenazim,
seven Sephardim), and consists of three elementary and four other
classes. A preparatory course has also been established, which is
attended by twenty-six children. As in all other Zionist schools, the
instruction is given in Hebrew. The syllabus is that of a Continental
secondary school.
_The Agricultural School_ at Petach-Tikvah has about fifty pupils,
children of the local colonists. Besides instruction in Jewish subjects,
modern European languages and Arabic, practical instruction is given
in agriculture and horticulture. Some of the pupils work with the
colonists, and in that way not only acquire a good practical knowledge,
but are able to earn their own living. This School has endeavoured to
establish a special department for every branch of agriculture, each
with its own plot of land for experimental purposes.
_The Jewish Music Schools_ at Jaffa and Jerusalem, called “_Shulamit_,”
and founded by the late Mrs. Ruppin in 1912, are attended by several
pupils of other schools, and have gained great popularity in the
country.
_The Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts_ is an important element in
the Palestinian Hebrew revival, and has already influenced the Jewish
communities of Europe and America. Many Jewish homes possess specimens
of the new Palestinian handicrafts, which remind them that in the home
of the Jewish people deft handicraftsmen, inspired by the Jewish spirit,
are giving a new expression to the genius of their race in metal-work
and wood-carving, in carpet-weaving and embroidery. Hebrew characters
and emblems enter into the woof and the warp of a Bezalel carpet and
give character to the design.¹ The School and Workshops, founded by
an enthusiastic Zionist artist, Boris Schatz, are supported by several
Committees on the Continent, in this country, and in America, and
form a means of most successful Zionist propaganda among all classes
of the Jewish and Gentile population. Many Bezalel exhibitions and
bazaars have been held, one as recently as 1912, in London. The Bezalel
includes also a beautiful little museum of Palestinian antiquities and
specimens of Palestinian flora and fauna, as well as of modern Jewish
art (including Glitzenstein’s masterpiece, _Messiah_, Joseph Israels’
portrait――one of the last works of his life, painted for the Bezalel,
of which this great master, a sincere friend of the Zionist movement,
was a patron). This museum has also the largest existing collection
of old Jewish coins, described in M. S. Raffael’s (Raffalowitsch)
_Matbeoth Ha’ibrim Ha’kadmonim Jerusalem_, 1913.
¹ _Palestine and the Hebrew Revival_, by E. Miller. _p._ 15.
_The Jaffa Hebrew High School_ (for boys and girls), the so-called
_Gymnasiah Ibrith_ (Herzliah, founded in 1906), is first and foremost
among the institutions of the Hebrew revival in Palestine. No
institution has proved so triumphantly the vitality and significance
of the modern revival of the Hebrew language and of Jewish national
education as the _Gymnasiah Ibrith_ has done with its staff of
pioneer-teachers, graduates of various European universities, and
its eight hundred pupils from all parts of the world-wide Jewish
Diaspora. The great merit of establishing this institution belongs to
Dr. Methman-Cohn, who was assisted by the late Dr. Leo Kahn of Kishinew.
The most vigilant and generous friend and patron of the _Gymnasiah
Ibrith_, Mr. Jacob Moser, M.P., of Bradford, provided the institution
with the means to erect the impressive building which forms the centre
of the little Jewish town Tel Aviv, near Jaffa. This institution,
equipped with everything that is necessary for the teaching of all
branches of science, has attracted the best of the younger Zionist
intellectuals, who have made it their life-work to inaugurate a
system of national education in a modernized living Hebrew. (The most
important workers in this institution are mentioned elsewhere in this
volume.)
_The Jaffa Hebrew School for Girls_ (_Beth Sefer Le’banoth_) was
founded by the Odessa “Lovers of Zion” Association in 1894, and is
attended by a few hundred girls. The principal is that most able
pioneer and Hebrew educationist, Dr. Tourov. It is the best school of
its kind in the country.
_The Seminary for Women Teachers_ at Jaffa, also maintained by the
Odessa “Lovers of Zion,” was founded in 1913 in a house built for the
purpose, the means having been supplied by the Russian Zionist M. Isaac
Feinberg, in the shape of a donation.
_The Tachkemoni Secondary School_ at Jaffa, founded in 1905, and
attended by a few hundred pupils, is chiefly supported by the strictly
orthodox section of Zionists, the _Mizrachi_, and is doing important
educational work on traditional lines, but with a modernized syllabus.
Instruction is given in science, Arabic and modern languages. (The
school was under the control of Rabbi Kuk and a _Mizrachi_ Committee.)
_The Jerusalem Gymnasium_ (High School), attended by about 150
pupils, boys and girls, was established in 1911 by a group of teachers
interested in national education. Although it has not so far achieved
its full development, it bids fair to produce good results.
The Odessa “Lovers of Zion” Association maintains Kindergartens
in Safed, Tiberias and Jaffa; schools for children in the colonies
of Chederah, Bir Jacob, Wadi el Chanin, Artuf, Moza and Kastinie;
and schools at Tiberias, Haifa and Gaza. It contributes also to the
support of the Tachkemoni and the Handicrafts School attached to the
_Talmud-Torah_ (religious school) at Jaffa, and of the Bezalel at
Jerusalem.
The “Free Association for the Defence of the Interests of Orthodox
Judaism” at Frankfort supports a number of schools in the colonies,
which have also accepted Hebrew as the language of instruction. To this
category belong the Talmud-Torah schools at Petach-Tikvah, Rishon
Le’Zion, Ekron, Rechoboth and Haifa.
The Jewish Colonization Association maintains almost all the schools
in the colonies, but the management of the schools is left to the
colonists themselves. As we are confining ourselves mostly to “Lovers
of Zion” and Zionist work, we refrain from giving full statistics
of these schools, which are important from the standpoint of numbers
as well as from that of efficiency. To mention just a few of them,
the schools in Upper Galilee (at Rosh Pinah and other colonies) are
excellent, both from the pedagogical point of view and in the teaching
of living Hebrew, which is the language of instruction.
The _Alliance Israélite Universelle_ of Paris has a long and important
record of school work in Palestine, and the _Hilfsverein der deutsche
Juden_ has also established a large number of schools, etc. In 1913 the
_Alliance_ requested its schools in Palestine to give more attention to
Hebrew. The Evelina de Rothschild School for Girls of the Anglo-Jewish
Association, under the headship of Miss Landau, is doing very useful
work.
Mention should be made also of the numerous religious old-fashioned
schools and colleges (Talmud-Torah schools and _Yeshiboth_) for
boys and young scholars at Jerusalem and in the provinces, in which
thousands of Jewish children are educated in knowledge of the Bible
and the Talmud. In spite of its defects, the old Jewish settlement in
Palestine was instrumental in paving the way for the new colonization,
and in this respect the old schools, notwithstanding their out-of-date
methods, deserve the highest appreciation for having preserved in
the children the knowledge of religion and ancient Hebrew literature.
Gradually the new spirit is penetrating into some of these schools,
as, for instance, into the _Cheder Torah_ (founded in 1906), where the
Hebrew language has been adopted as the language of instruction.
In connection with the ever-increasing and extensive work of national
education in Palestine the “Union of Teachers” (_Merchaz Ha’morim_)
calls for mention as one of the most important organizations. It was
established some years ago for the purpose of fostering educational
development in the new Jewish settlement, of providing means for the
further training of teachers, and for completing the education of those
engaged in school work, by such means as holiday courses, lectures,
excursions, research work, discussions and debates dealing with the
curriculum and methods of instruction, and so on.
The _Merchaz_ has also established the nucleus of an Education Museum,
with sections for history, pedagogy and hygiene.
The “Language Board” (_Vaad Ha’lashon_) at Jerusalem (including D.
Yellin, E. Ben Jehuda, Dr. Maze, Sutta and others) plays an important
part in the national awakening. The rebirth of the Jewish nation being
impossible without the rebirth of the national language, the work of
modernizing and enriching the national language is as essential and
as indispensable for the realization of Zionism as the purchase and
cultivation of land or the financial arrangements for that purpose. To
unearth the treasures of our ancient language, to reveal to our people
the wealth of our national intellect, to broaden national thought
and to guide it towards clear expression in its own way――this is
fundamental Zionist work. Prosperous and happy nations have established
academies for this purpose, which are maintained out of public funds;
our more unassuming task is still in a preliminary stage, although much
useful work has already been done. The “Language Board” is publishing a
series of pamphlets containing suggestions for new idioms, etc.
The good work of the two last-named institutions has earned the
appreciation of the Zionist Actions Committee, which has decided to
provide them with the necessary means.
The Public Hebrew Library “_Bait Neeman_,” “_Midrash ♦Abrabanel_” and
“_Ginze Joseph_” at Jerusalem, founded by Dr. Joseph Chazanovitsch
of Bialystok, is also worthy of record. It is the only big library
in Palestine which is of use to scholars, and it is therefore of
immeasurable value for the revival of Palestine. (There are also
collections of rare Hebrew books and MSS. in some Sephardi _Yeshiboth_,
and a Hebrew Library, “_Shaar Zion_,” founded in 1891 by the new
Jewish settlers at Jaffa.) It is far from being adequate――it requires
extending and systematizing――but this beginning must win the admiration
of all those who fully conceive the immensity of the Zionist task.
♦ “Abarbanel” replaced with “Abrabanel” for consistency
The Gymnastic Societies (_Maccabee_) at Jaffa and Jerusalem, with
branch societies in Rishon Le’Zion, Zichron Jacob, and other colonies,
are doing useful work for the physical development of the new
generation. All these Societies have been founded during recent years
by Zionists, and are supported by the Zionist Organization.
Mr. Nathan Straus, the well-known philanthropist of New York, who has
identified himself with the Zionist Organization, has established a
number of useful institutions in Palestine, partly of a philanthropic
and hygienic, partly of a pedagogical character. His “Health
Department,” which is assisted by some other Jewish Societies on the
Continent, has become a real blessing to Jerusalem, likewise his “Soup
Kitchen,” his classes for instructing girls in handicrafts, and his
workshop for manufacturing articles of mother-of-pearl.
To the hygienic institutions belongs also the Pasteur Institute at
Jerusalem, which is controlled by the well-known Russian Zionist, Dr.
Arji Behm, for vaccino-therapeutical work.
The People’s Hall (_Bet-Am_) at Jerusalem is a sort of Toynbee Hall
for popular lectures in Hebrew, and for concerts and amusements.
Institutions of this kind exist also in Rishon Le’Zion, and other
colonies.
The best known of the Hebrew Publication Societies, and of the
periodicals, newspapers and magazines founded by Zionists in Palestine
and devoted to the revival are the following:――
_Kohelet_, founded by the Association of Teachers for the publication
of Hebrew text-books;
_Le’am_, for popular pamphlets and pamphlets on scientific subjects;
_Yefet_, for the translation of classical works of European literature;
_Moledet_, a literary periodical for young people;
_Ha’chinuch_, a periodical for teachers, dealing with pedagogical
questions;
_Ha’chaklai_, a Hebrew monthly devoted to agriculture, gardening, etc.;
_Yerushalaim_, a year-book containing useful information regarding
Palestine, by A. M. Luncz;
_Luach Erez Israel_, a Palestinian calendar with a literary section,
by the same author.
Hebrew journalism was represented during many years by the old weekly
_Chabazelet_ (editor: M. Frumkin) and by the modern _Hashkafa_ (editor:
Elieser Ben-Jehuda). During recent years Ben-Jehuda has edited a
daily paper, _Ha’or_. Until recently Palestine had two daily papers:
_Ha’cheruth_ and _Moriah_, and two weekly papers: _Ha’poêl Ha’zair_ and
_Ha’achduth_.
D. MISCELLANEOUS INSTITUTIONS
The most important institutions for the conduct, support and control of
colonization work and companies for practical undertakings are:――
_The Zionist Office._ Chief Administrators: Dr. Ruppin, Dr. Thon;
Agricultural Engineers: Oettinger, Zagorodzki, Vilkansky, and others.
_The Chovevé Zion Office_ (Dr. Chissin).
_The Jewish Colonization Association Office_ (M. Frank, M. Brill, and
others).
_The Palestine Wine Company_ “_Carmel_,” and _The Syndicate of
Vine-Growers_. (The “_Carmel_” Company has branches in Warsaw (1896) ,
in America (1898), the “_Carmel Oriental_” in Alexandria (1902), with
sister companies――The Palestine Wine Company (“_Carmel Oriental_”) in
London (Manager: A. Günzburg)――and branches in several countries. The
centre is at Rishon Le’Zion, under the management of M. Gluskin).
The _Geoulah_, for the purchase of land (founded in Warsaw, 1902, in
the names of Goldberg, Gluskin and Oettinger, with a branch in Odessa).
The _Pardess_, a syndicate of orange-growers; the _Ha-shaked_ for
almond growing, and some other companies of the same kind.
The _Ahuzat Bait_, for house-building at Jaffa (this Company
founded Tel-Aviv), and other Companies for the purchase of land for
house-building, etc.
The _Agudath Netaim_ (Association for Plantations), established in 1905
in Palestine, is a Company incorporated at Constantinople for promoting
Jewish plantation work in the Holy Land. (The principal manager of the
Company is Mr. Eisenberg of Rechoboth, who has achieved a reputation as
a writer and organizer of great practical experience.)
The _Histadrut Ha’moshavot_, a union of the landed proprietors in the
colonies.
The _Lishkat Modiyim_, an office for information established by the
Odessa _Chovevé Zion_, managed by M. Schenkin.
The Bureau of Information, managed by the _Poalim_ (the labourers), and
_Ha’poêl Ha’zair_ (the Young Worker)――an organization of nationalist
workers and intellectuals who have given an impetus to the enthusiasm
and determination of the young Zionists in Palestine, as well as
far beyond the boundaries of that country. The programme of the
organization is a synthesis of Jewish Nationalism and Socialism, in
which the Nationalist idea is more accentuated than in the programme
of the _Poalei Zion_. They started their work during the first years of
this century, and their organ was the Hebrew weekly _Ha’poêl Ha’zair_,
of which Mr. Aronovitch was editor.
THE JEWISH AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION AT HAIFA
The Sixth Zionist Congress held at Basle in 1906 accepted a scheme
presented by Professor Warburg to found an agricultural experiment
station in Palestine, and the Zionist Organization started collecting
money for that purpose. M. Aaron Aaronsohn,¹ the son of a pioneer
colonist of Zichron Jacob, a distinguished agronomist who had been
some years engaged in colonization work, and particularly in connection
with the inquiries and preparations undertaken on the initiative of
Professor Warburg, who was at that time busy with all the schemes
concerning Palestine, was commissioned by the Professor to study the
question of the hybridization of wild wheat. In 1906, M. Aaronsohn
had found, after painstaking investigation, a few ears of wild wheat
growing on the declivities of Mount Hermon. The scientific world was
very much interested in this discovery, because of its relation to the
possibilities of dry farming in arid regions. M. Aaronsohn travelled
on that scientific mission as a delegate of the Zionist Organization,
in Northern Africa and Southern Europe, and came to America in 1910.
While there, he established relations with the United States Department
of Agriculture, which took an interest in his ideas, and published
a Bulletin by him entitled _Agricultural and Botanical Explorations
in Palestine_. Through the United States Department of Agriculture,
M. Aaronsohn and his work were brought to the notice of a number of
prominent American Jews, who at his initiative established, February
18, 1910, the Jewish Agricultural Experiment Station, a New York
corporation with Julius Rosenwald, of Chicago, president; Morris
Loeb, of New York, vice-president; Paul M. Warburg, of New York,
treasurer; and Henrietta Szold, of New York, secretary. The objects
of the corporation are “the establishment, maintenance and support
of Agricultural Experiment Stations in Palestine and other countries;
the development and improvement of cereals, fruit, and vegetables
indigenous to Palestine and neighbouring lands, the production of new
species therefrom and their distribution elsewhere; the advancement
throughout the world, and the giving of instruction in new and improved
methods of farming.” Funds were raised by the Corporation for the
installation and the running expenses for a period of five years. The
demonstration fields are situated at Atlit, at the foot of Mount Carmel,
on land belonging to Baron Rothschild. Sub-stations are situated at
Chedera, in the neighbourhood of Petach-Tikvah and elsewhere. The
Station occupies itself since its establishment with the hybridization
of wild cereals and with plantations of fruit frees, vines, mulberry
trees, various sorts of fodder and ornamental plants. The Jewish
colonists resort to this Station for advice and information.
¹ He was killed in an aeroplane accident while on his way to
Paris in May, 1919.
LXXXIII.
DAVID WOLFFSOHN’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
“MY biography offers nothing of special interest to the general public.
It may be divided into two parts: Zionist and personal. The Zionist
portion is closely bound up with the history of our movement during the
last ten years, and the facts concerning my modest work can hardly be
distinguished from the general history of the movement. The personal
portion of my career, on the other hand, contains nothing that
transcends the ordinary. It is the simple story of a man of the Jewish
people, of the Jewish Ghetto.
“I was born in the year 1856, in the village of Dorbiany, in the
Government of Kovno, in the Province of Lithuania in Russia, close to
the German frontier. My parents were poor, pious Jews. My late father,
Isaac, was a talmudic scholar, and devoted his whole life to study
and teaching. He earned a precarious livelihood from his lessons. My
late mother, the type of a pious, good, clever Jewess, had to bear
the burden of the household and the education of her children. Life in
my parents’ house was thoroughly Jewish. Zionism at that time was, of
course, not known under that name, but, so far as the ideal of Zionism
is concerned, I can say that in our home our lives were thoroughly
inspired by the Zionist ideal. Till my fourteenth year I studied,
according to the old Jewish custom, in the _Cheder_ and _Beth
Hamedrash_ of my native town. In the early seventies I went to Memel,
where my oldest brother was then residing. Here I made the acquaintance
of Rabbi Dr. I. J. Rülf, who had great influence on my future career
and way of thinking. Shortly afterwards I went to West Prussia, where I
served several years as apprentice in a pious Jewish business-house. I
also spent six months in Lyck, where I frequently met in his own house
David Gordon, the editor of _Ha’magid_, who was one of the earliest
Zionist pioneers. In 1877 I returned to Memel, where I set up in
business for myself, and married. After some time I removed to East
Friesland, and in 1887 to my present home in Cologne.
“I can hardly give any data concerning my Zionist work. Zionism for me
is hardly a thing that can be put into chronological, historical order.
Zionism has been, rather, my life. Ever since I learned to think and
feel I was a Zionist. I took a lively interest in the _Chovevé Zion_
movement and was in active correspondence with all the leaders of this
movement in Germany. In 1894 I delivered in Cologne my first address
on Zionism and helped to found the local society for the promotion
and support of Jewish agriculture in Syria and Palestine, which was
established in the same year. The appearance of Herzl’s _Judenstaat_
(in 1896) was epoch-making for me. This pamphlet made such a deep
impression on me that I at once went to Vienna to introduce myself to
Herzl. I placed myself entirely at his disposal. From that moment till
the last days of his fruitful life, unhappily so prematurely ended,
I remained in uninterrupted intercourse with our never-to-be-forgotten
leader. To devote my strength to the continuance of this work I
regarded as the task of my life. When, in the sad time after Herzl’s
death, the Presidency was offered to me, I was surprised and
embarrassed. It was only out of a sense of duty that I accepted this
high dignity.”
LXXXIV.
SOME ENGLISH PRESS COMMENTS ON THE LONDON ZIONIST CONGRESS (1900)
_Spectator_: “As to the Jews being able to live on the land in
Palestine there can be no doubt. Those who have seen a Jewish colony in
Syria will testify to the excellent physical and moral and agricultural
results achieved. Merely to see the children there is ample warrant of
what is done for the Jew by release from the Ghetto.”
_Saturday Review_: “Restoration to Palestine symbolizes the recovery of
self-respect, the reattainment of nationhood.”
_Globe_: “Zionism answers the aspirations of the majority of persecuted
Jews, but it is important to those Jews who have become completely
assimilated to their Christian surroundings, and who ought to have an
interest in the raising of the economic, moral and intellectual status
of the mass of their unhappy brethren, which raising of status will
necessarily be the first outcome of their gathering in the land of
their fathers.”
_Daily News_: “Whatever difference of opinion may prevail as to the
policy of the Zionist movement, there can be no doubt as to the intense
and fervid interest of those who, at no small self-sacrifice, are doing
this work of revival.”
_Daily Graphic_: “Zionism appeals to many sides of human thought,
but perhaps the final impression it leaves upon the public mind is
something akin to Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones which lived again.
Is it possible that the dispersed nation, whose career is one of the
standing marvels of history, is about to gather itself again and open a
new chapter of its romantic annals? It looks very like it. The movement
is in the hands of practical and courageous men; it has behind it a
stimulus, not only of subjective enthusiasm, but also of objective
strife, and it entirely responds to a practical need.”
_Yorkshire Post_: “The striking feature of the meetings was the unity
of purpose and enthusiasm which seem to characterize all the delegates.
Persons who speak quite different tongues nevertheless fraternize and
grow enthusiastic over the prospect of returning as a nation to the
land of their fathers.”
_Leeds Mercury_: “This is not wholly a dream.... Several colonies have
settled down within their historic territorial limits. A few of them
are already self-supporting. The movement is essentially democratic.”
_Nottingham Guardian_: “The movement the Zionist Congress represents is
an important one and it may possibly produce momentous results.”
_Newcastle Courier_: “This movement in Jewry is one which readily
commands the sympathy of the outsider. It is the voicing of that
inarticulate feeling which has for ages silently swayed and sustained
forlorn and seemingly forsaken Jews. The inextinguishable hope and the
unshaken faith of these stricken people as to their future constitutes
a striking object-lesson in these days of scepticism.”
_Liverpool Echo_: “From every point of view, political, social,
and religious, Zionism has much to recommend it, and the enthusiasm
with which it has been taken up by many of the most prominent
thinkers of the Hebrew race affords the best augury for its ultimate
accomplishment.”
_Glasgow Evening News_: “Such a scheme as the re-peopling of Palestine,
while demanding careful handling at every stage, must be gradually
evolved.... If the Zionist movement creates a Jew with the tastes and
aspirations of his forefathers it will not have been started in vain.”
_Glasgow Evening Citizen_: “It is a matter of considerable importance,
looked at from what side we may. Should any effective system be found
of dealing with it, then the present Congress will probably have
operated to the advantage of this country quite as much as to the Jews
in whose interests it is being held.”
_North British Daily Mail_: “There is no reason why Christians should
not wish them well. The movement should provide a refuge for the Jewish
race from the Anti-Semitic hate which pursues them in so many countries,
and it should help somewhat to restore to its former prosperity the
land of Palestine, towards which the Jewish heart ever turns with love
and devotion.”
_Review of the Week_: “Why should not this homogeneous, intelligent
and powerful race (the Jews) form a State of their own, and thus free
themselves from persecution in other States, and enforce respect for
their nationality? Millions of Jews have probably asked themselves this
question. Trustworthy leaders having been found, a movement has been
set on foot for the establishment of a Jewish centre in Palestine. The
idea is glorious enough to take possession even of the minds of such a
practical, prudent and commercial race as the Jews.”
LXXXV.
COLONEL CONDER ON THE VALUE OF THE JEWISH NATIONAL MOVEMENT (1903)
“ENTHUSIASM is the power of feeling a strong interest in something that
is not of personal material advantage. It is not a very common feeling
anywhere, and is perhaps as rare among Jews as among others. It is
generally regarded with suspicion: for it often upsets repose, and
leads to unexpected and disturbing events. Ignorant enthusiasm has
been the cause of many great troubles: but enthusiasm founded on real
knowledge of events and of national movements has produced, in our own
times, some of the greatest changes in history. It was the enthusiasm
of the few which created a United Italy, or again which has made Japan
the leading power in the Far East. It is the unexpected that comes to
pass, because men’s attention is fixed on large and conspicuous objects,
and because they find it so difficult to judge whether the new cause,
advocated by the few, is based on reality, or whether it is merely a
craze. Thus, while endless diplomacy and observation are directed to
the management of affairs on the supposition that the facts are evident,
there constantly comes a surprise which renders futile all the schemes
of anxious Politicians, due to the silent action of some unsuspected
element. The blind desires of the people find at length a definite
expression, and the direction given by a few enthusiasts leads to new
and startling events.... Enthusiasm for one’s own race and country,
when genuine, is regarded with general favour: but when George Eliot
raised her protest against the everlasting ‘Hep!’ which hounds the
wandering Jew from land to land, people asked what she had to do with
Judaism. Like Cain, we ask: ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ and especially
when it is the poor brother whom we so much dislike. We can, however,
understand that the great mass of poor and persecuted Jews feel for
those who devote their time, money and thought to the raising up
of their own people an amount of real affection and gratitude which
renders them willing to be led to their realization of hopes that
are not commonly regarded by the great mass of the prosperous and
contented.... Among the higher class of those broad-minded Jews who
sincerely believe in their ancient traditions, very noble efforts are
made not only to help the poor and stem the tide of persecution, but
also to raise the tone of the nation by appeal to its ancient memories
and ideals. These men are the natural leaders to whom the destitute and
oppressed turn for counsel and guidance, and it is among them that it
has now become a fixed belief that the nation can only be raised from
its misery by the creation of a national centre――a home to which all
those who are scattered over the earth may turn their eyes: which must
be one bound up with all that is best in the historic memories of the
race, and which therefore must be the old home in Palestine itself.
The Jew, they say, is tired of wandering and tired of being an alien.
Emigration has not settled the eternal question, and a nation without
a country must be content with toleration as all that it can expect.
“As regards ourselves, we should be only too glad to see Palestine
increasing in civilization and prosperity as an outpost in the
neighbourhood of Egypt.... It is clear that if the question of the
Near East should again be raised, the Jews will have to be considered
by statesmen in any settlement of the Syrian question: and that the
solution of the question ... may be ... a ‘legally assured home for the
Jewish People.’”
LXXXVI.
LORD GWYDYR ON ZIONISM AND THE ARABS
ONE of the most important factors the Zionists will have to reckon
with in their further activity in Palestine is that of the Arabian
population of the country. This population might consider the
development of the Zionist movement undesirable: if the immigration
of Jews into Palestine were to bring additional poverty into the
land――if the Jewish element were restless, adventurous and inclined to
disorder――if the country had or might have a homogeneous Arabic culture,
and this new element were to disturb its uniformity through the
introduction of its own cultural aspirations――or if that same element
were threatening to oust the Arabs from their own position. But these
and similar suppositions which might have led to the adoption of strong
measures, or at least to a sentimental antipathy against immigration,
are non-existent. The Jews bring no poverty into the land; nor is the
immigrating population adventurous; Arabic culture does not already
prevail in the country; and the Jews will not drive the Arab population
from an established position.
The Jews who have been or are coming to Palestine have created
considerable new economic values which are not only sufficient for
their own maintenance but also contribute essentially towards the
economic strengthening of the Arab element. Not only has the Government
derived profit from the greater taxation returns of the Jewish colonies,
but also from the enhanced taxability of the country, in consequence
of the better methods of cultivation introduced by the Jews. The Arab
population has also been considerably enriched, partly because the
same masses which were formerly unemployed in large numbers found
occupations and earnings with the Jews; partly through favourable sales
of land, and also because they have learnt from the Jews how to obtain
a greater yield from the soil.
Of course there can be no lack of competition in isolated cases,
especially between Arab and Jewish traders, or Arab and Jewish artisans.
But on the whole this competition can only bear upon individual cases.
In general the new immigration can only maintain and support itself
in the country if it creates new values, for the very simple reason
that industrial conditions in Palestine are in a very low state of
development, and that consequently the supplanting of those who hold
established positions is practically impossible.
Therefore, from a comprehensive economic point of view, it is not only
unnecessary to protect the native population against the immigration,
but the latter should be encouraged in the interest of the country
and its present inhabitants. The immigration brings about an increase
of production as well as of consumption, and the greater part of the
native population is thereby relieved from economic distress.
It is also possible that the native population, on having risen from
its present state of depression to a higher level, may endeavour,
in a measure, to better its economic position by settling down in
neighbouring provinces. Colonization of the lands to the east of
Palestine by Arabs would considerably reduce the Arab population
of Palestine. Already, since the centre of gravity of the Arab
race is not situated in Palestine, the area of friction arising
from national-political motives is considerably reduced. The
national-political relations of the Jews and their Arab fellow-citizens
must be directed into the right channel from the very beginning. In
this respect the Zionist programme is quite clear, simple and natural.
The Jews wish to collaborate with the Arabs towards the elevation and
strengthening of the country; but, in all they do, they want to appear
as the Jewish nation, and always to show openly and freely their Jewish
nationality. If it be a question of assimilation, Palestine is the only
country in the world where the Jews, instead of being assimilated, are
themselves the assimilating factor. It has, however, to be added that
there can be no question of compulsory assimilation enforced by the
Jews; they themselves have suffered too much from assimilation to wish
to enforce it in any direction. But the Jewish culture will have an
instructive and ennobling influence over others, through the force of
example.
Lord Gwydyr wrote as follows on the question of the Turks and the Arabs
in connection with the Jews:――
“The difference between the Turkish and Arabic race is a curious
subject of study and reflection. The Arabs, taken individually,
are superior to the Turks. But in the struggle between nations the
superiority of individuals is nothing: what gives ascendancy is the
quality not of the individual but of the man: it is the spirit of
_ensemble_, the aptitude to command or obey, which, after all, is the
same thing. In this point of view the Arab is inferior to the Turk.
Enthusiastic, witty, delicate, made for poesy and adventure, sober,
inured to fatigue, as gay and as variable as the Turk is serious and
grave, the Arabic race is still what we see it in history. But when,
forgetting for a moment the brightness of their conquest, we closely
examine, even in history, the character of the Arab race, what do we
see? A race whose religious enthusiasm created an army rather than a
nation, and incapable of founding an empire, as the Romans had done, it
gave rise to I do not know how many empires and how short lived. What a
chaos, and in this chaos what a rapid and tumultuous nation! Unity and
duration were ever wanting in the governments created by the Arab race.
These governments enjoyed the life of tropical plants, brilliant and
brief, whilst the Turkish race has founded an empire, now expiring
indeed, but which has lasted five hundred years or more. For an empire
like the Turkish one, and in those countries, five hundred years’
duration is eternity. What is Palestine worth to the Arabs? Nothing.
They did not appreciate its value, until the Jewish enterprise that
forms a striking contrast with the dulness of the natives began to
utilize this old garden of the human race, left desert and barren by
the misfortunes of time. The Arabs will be useful when guided by an
active and intelligent Jewish settlement.
“Racial rivalry is natural in every country, and is not to be
disapproved so long as the aims are good, as, e.g. emulation in
acquiring of knowledge in its multiple domains, such as agriculture,
industry, etc.: but as soon as rivalry exceeds these bounds, it is
to be deprecated. The legal power must resist with all its power this
nefarious kind of rivalry, as nobody wishes to differentiate between
the inhabitants in their liberties. All must be equal before the law,
without the least distinction. But misunderstandings may always occur,
and people with interested motives will try to make capital out of
these misunderstandings. Everything depends on the goodwill and tact on
both sides. Even the Bedawi may be won over to friendship more easily
than he may be driven into subjection. And he is worth the winning over.
Besides being a fighting man in his own style, he is, as history proves,
quite capable of making valuable contributions to the welfare of the
country, if he is properly treated. Experience shows that he responds
more readily to appeal than to command, and is more easily led than
driven. They must be given the blessings of a good administration and
trained to take a gradually increasing share in the government of the
country. Friendliness will replace inveterate mistrust: the inhabitants
of the country will be bound together in close harmony by the ties of
common interest. From a strictly Christian standpoint such a course is
clearly the highest and wisest: while from that of the Moslems the old
fears that closer intercourse with Christians might sap the religious
earnestness of the followers of the Prophet are now generally seen to
be groundless in the light of a longer and more intimate acquaintance.
But there are reasons of a more practical nature than these ethical
considerations. The position of Islam in the world’s political and
religious geography supplies the followers of both faiths with a motive
for common action that is yearly becoming better understood.... If it
is true that a new spirit is stirring in the East of Asia, that the
scientific knowledge by which in the past Europeans have held their
own can no longer remain their monopoly and that the increase of the
population in the Far East remains steady while that of Europe declines,
then it is time for the Near East, when the inevitable struggle
must take place, to put her house in order: and the first and most
obvious requirement is that the tradition of misunderstandings between
Christians and Moslems shall be replaced by a sympathy based upon
community of interest.”
LXXXVII.
CONSULAR REPORTS
THE movement of progress and hope which has awakened to consciousness
in Palestine was born in the colonies, where the land began to yield
a ready harvest in return for the husbandman’s toil, where the vine
and the fruit tree began to surround with natural beauty a land that
had all too long lain desolate, and the old joys of country life
have brought anew to the toilful workers a spirit of independence
and dignity which have penetrated from the country into the towns.
Again the Jewish race has developed some of the fine physique that
generations of the Ghetto life had threatened to destroy for ever.
The British Consular Reports show signs of a steady development of
Palestinian trade:――
Year.│ Exports. │ Imports.
─────┼───────────┼─────────
1885 │ £132,579 │ £287,740
1886 │ 119,555 │ 240,880
1887 │ 186,371 │ 232,045
─────┼───────────┼─────────
1888 │ 204,315 │ 253,065
1889 │ 244,561 │ 275,622
1890 │ 447,010 │ 259,811
─────┼───────────┼─────────
1891 │ 410,530 │ 288,290
1892 │ 258,466 │ 342,597
1893 │ 332,628 │ 349,540
─────┼───────────┼─────────
1894 │ 285,604 │ 273,233
1895 │ 282,907 │ 275,990
1896 │ 373,447 │ 256,090
─────┼───────────┼─────────
1897 │ 309,389 │ 306,630
1898 │ 306,780 │ 322,430
The increase of trade in 1890 and 1891 was due to the good harvest in
oranges and sesame. In 1892, 1893, 1894, and 1897, all the wheat and
the barley were exported _via_ Gaza, and are therefore not included in
the above table. The value of some of the goods exported and the growth
of new industries is indicated in the following table, which shows the
exports of wheat, maize, soap and oranges from 1885 to 1898:――
│ Wheat. │ Maize. │ Soap. │ Oranges.
Year.│ £ │ £ │ £ │ £
─────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼────────
1885 │ 3,600 │ 7,875 │ 13,722 │ 26,500
1886 │ 3,325 │ 9,000 │ 8,960 │ 29,400
1887 │ 15,000 │ 21,000 │ 38,000 │ 36,000
─────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼────────
1888 │ 7,800 │ 16,960 │ 45,000 │ 55,000
1889 │ 16,950 │ 18,200 │ 33,600 │ 51,200
1890 │ 19,920 │ 11,240 │ 44,700 │ 83,120
─────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼────────
1891 │ 3,300 │ 17,300 │ 124,000 │ 108,400
1892 │ ―― │ 420 │ 46,800 │ 62,000
1893 │ ―― │ 2,580 │ 112,000 │ 96,500
─────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼────────
1894 │ ―― │ 2,000 │ 114,000 │ 51,000
1895 │ 3,560 │ 3,200 │ 93,240 │ 65,000
1896 │ 1,920 │ 14,178 │ 113,114 │ 72,600
─────┼────────┼────────┼─────────┼────────
1897 │ ―― │ 8,450 │ 81,900 │ 75,800
1898 │ 14,000 │ 3,000 │ 62,000 │ 82,500
In the earlier reports some reference is made to the export of wine,
but it is not worth special mention until 1894, from which date the
following figures may be given:――
Wine and Cognac.
1894 │ £3,000
1895 │ 2,600
1896 │ 4,032
─────┼───────
1897 │ 4,340
1898 │ 20,500
Comparative tables of imports and exports at Jaffa according
to countries during the four years 1909‒1912.
IMPORTS
│ 1909. │ 1910. │ 1911. │ 1912.
Country. │ £ │ £ │ £ │ £
─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼──────────
United Kingdom │ 321,348 │ 128,730 │ 146,000 │ 155,000
British Colonies │ 4,629 │ 3,105 │ 49,000 │ 54,000
Turkey │ 107,842 │ 328,965 │ 340,000 │ 305,000
─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼──────────
Austria-Hungary │ 92,244 │ 83,840 │ 114,000 │ 126,000
Russia │ 96,038 │ 97,000 │ 108,000 │ 110,000
Germany │ 87,308 │ 68,615 │ 74,000 │ 80,000
─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼──────────
France │ 64,773 │ 103,000 │ 112,000 │ 84,000
Egypt │ 69,445 │ 58,095 │ 70,000 │ 61,000
Belgium │ 39,635 │ 49,185 │ 60,000 │ 54,000
─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼──────────
Italy │ 25,232 │ 24,940 │ 16,000 │ 5,000
United States │ 13,483 │ 10,400 │ 25,000 │ 12,000
Roumania │ 10,565 │ ―― │ 22,000 │ 17,000
─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼──────────
Netherlands │ 10,555 │ 10,141 │ 8,000 │ 7,000
Bulgaria │ ―― │ 11,950 │ 15,000 │ 8,000
Other Countries │ 9,848 │ 24,485 │ 10,910 │ 12,000
─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────────┼──────────
│ 973,143 │ 1,002,450 │ 1,169,910 │ 1,090,000
EXPORTS
│ 1909. │ 1910. │ 1911. │ 1912.
Country. │ £ │ £ │ £ │ £
─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────
United Kingdom │ 158,090 │ 173,085 │ 185,000 │ 190,000
British Colonies │ 77 │ 698 │ 9,000 │ 10,500
Turkey │ 56,850 │ 83,015 │ 78,000 │ 95,000
─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────
Austria-Hungary │ 19,630 │ 12,103 │ 21,000 │ 24,500
Russia │ 18,370 │ 29,589 │ 33,000 │ 45,000
Germany │ 7,325 │ 8,384 │ 17,000 │ 21,000
─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────
France │ 15,080 │ 22,255 │ 46,000 │ 50,000
Egypt │ 255,215 │ 277,328 │ 270,000 │ 290,000
Belgium │ 1,863 │ 1,101 │ 15,000 │ 12,000
─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────
Italy │ 10,337 │ 15,332 │ 12,000 │ 6,000
United States │ 3,765 │ 4,272 │ 10,000 │ 1,000
Roumania │ 1,375 │ ―― │ 2,000 │ 2,500
─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────
Netherlands │ 418 │ 1,192 │ 1,000 │ 2,000
Bulgaria │ ―― │ 5,221 │ 6,000 │ 4,500
Other Countries │ 12,630 │ 2,575 │ 5,660 │ 10,162
─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────
│ 506,935 │ 636,145 │ 710,660 │ 774,162
_Hindrances to the Prosperity of Palestine_
(From the British Diplomatic and Consular Reports, No. 4850. Annual
Series: Turkey. Report for the Year 1911. London, 1912):――
“The principal causes which impede a rapid increase in the prosperity
of Palestine are three, viz.:――
“1. _The lack of a harbour in Jaffa._――This is greatly needed. Owing
to the fact that Jaffa is an open roadstead subject to sudden and
dangerous storms――it should be noted that a British steamer was wrecked
in February, 1911――much delay is experienced in loading and unloading
steamers with consequent loss and inconvenience. Many tourists and
pilgrims are also deterred from visiting the country owing to the
uncertainty as to whether disembarkation will be possible.
“2. _The tithe._――The levying of a tax of 12½ per cent. _ad valorem_
on products of the soil has greatly impeded the extension of the orange
plantations. Recently a petition has been submitted to the authorities
by agriculturists asking that this tax may be replaced by a fixed tax
of 30 pias. (5s.) per dunum (about ¼ acre) on land planted with orange
and other fruit trees. If this change were made, there would be an
immediate increase in the number of orange plantations, with consequent
benefit both to the Government and to the population. There are
thousands of acres of light soil in the vicinity of Jaffa, which,
although not suited for cereals or sesame, are well fitted for the
cultivation of oranges.
“3. _The existence of large plots of undivided (musho’a) land belonging
to several owners jointly who are, however, unable to determine
their respective shares._――The natural result is that, there being
no inducements to carry out improvements, the land is neglected. If
measures were taken to effect the division of the land, the results
would be beneficial both to the Government and to the owners.”
In addition to this statement, Mr. Vice-Consul P. Abela of Haifa
reported (1911):――
“There is a possibility of great agricultural enterprise in the fertile
and extensive plains near Haifa, and arrangements have been made with
some big proprietors to let the property for development. Were it not
for the Turkish laws prohibiting foreign companies to hold land in
Turkey, great progress might have been made in this direction.”
(From the Jaffa Report for 1912, No. 5107. Annual Series. June,
1913):――
“_Public works._――The roads have not been touched, except for a few
patchings in the town, and are in the worst state of repair imaginable.
“The harbour concession, owing to the difficulties arising from the
confused political state of the capital, has not yet been obtained....
It is now nearly fifteen years that negotiations have been going on
with regard to the project, and considering the enormous benefits that
would accrue from its realization to every branch of the local trade,
its perpetual postponement is deplorable. The present open roadstead is
dangerous both for passengers and goods trade, and frequently prevents
vessels from communicating at all. The resulting losses to the district
are too obvious to be mentioned.
“_The lack of public security._――The inhabitants of the Jewish colonies
have to pay from £6 10s. annually per family in organising their own
means of defence, and even then suffer from insecurity.
“_The tithe._――This tax is levied on a system which has the
disadvantages both of discouraging cultivation and being wasteful and
comparatively unproductive. Its incidence on individuals is also in
many cases unfair and crippling. The whole system is in need of radical
revision.
“_The backward state of public works._――The present roads are fit for
nothing but camel traffic, and agriculturists have no satisfactory
means of embarking their goods at Jaffa without great expense and loss
through deterioration.”
LXXXVIII.
THE following is an example of Moore’s Zionist songs:――
ADVENT OF THE MILLENNIUM
But who shall see the glorious day,
When throned on Zion’s brow,
The Lord shall rend that veil away
Which blinds the nations now?
When earth no more beneath the fear
Of his rebuke shall lie;
When pain shall cease, and every tear
Be wiped from every eye?
Then, Judah, thou no more shalt mourn
Beneath the heathen’s chain;
Thy days of splendour shall return,
And all be new again.
The fount of life shall then be quaff’d,
In peace by all who come;
And every wind that blows shall waft
Some long-lost exile home.
MOORE.
(_See_ Volume I, page 12.)
LXXXIX.
CREMIEUX’S CIRCULAR TO THE JEWS IN WESTERN EUROPE¹
“_Aux Juifs de l’Occident._
“... PENDANT mon séjour en Egypte, dans le cours de cette belle mission
qui portait vers nos frères de l’Orient les sympathies si ardentes
de leurs frères de l’Occident, j’étais vivement ému de l’aspect de la
malheureux population qui s’offrait à mes yeux. Foules aux pieds depuis
tant de siècles, les débris _de la nation juive_, autrefois nation
puissante dans ces contrées même, ont perdu l’energie qui seule donné
à l’homme quelque ressort en lui rappelant qu’il est l’œuvre de Dieu.
La source qui vivifie toutes les facultés de notre intelligence,
_l’instruction_ n’est pas même connue du nom dans cette Alexandria, si
brillante, il y a quelques siècles, par les lumières des juges et des
docteurs israelites....
“De l’Orient est sortie la religion qui nous unit tous d’une chaîne
à la fois si étroite et si noble.... Du Caire et d’Alexandria le feu
sacre se répandra bientôt vers Dames et Jérusalem. L’Orient va se
ranimer....”
¹ _Archives Israelites de France_, vol. ii., 1841, p. 185.
(_See_ Volume I, p. 180.)
XC.
THE BANNER OF THE JEWS
(BY EMMA LAZARUS)
WAKE, Israel, Wake! Recall to-day
The Glorious Maccabean rage,
The sire heroic, hoary-gray,
His five-fold lion-lineage,
The wise, the elect, the Help-of-God,
The burst of Spring, the Avenging Rod.
From Murpeh’s mountain ridge they saw
Jerusalem’s empty streets: her shrine
Laid waste where Greeks profaned the law
With idol and with pagan sign.
Mourners in tattered black were there
With ashes sprinkled on their hair.
Then from the stony peak there rang
A blast to ope the graves: down poured
The Maccabean clan, who sang
Their battle anthem to the Lord.
Five heroes lead, and following, see
Ten thousand rush to victory!
Oh for Jerusalem’s trumpet now,
To blow a blast of shattering power,
To wake the sleepers high and low,
And rouse them to the urgent hour!
No hand for vengeance, but to save,
A million naked swords should wave.
Oh, deem not dead that martial fire,
Say not the mystic flame is spent!
With Moses’ law and David’s lyre,
Your ancient strength remains unbent.
Let such an era rise anew,
To lift the “Banner of the Jew!”
(_See_ Volume I, p. 243.)
XCI.
“THE ADVANCED GUARD”
Programme of the Committee appointed to found a colony
to be called Rishon Le’Zion (1882).
“A. The acquisition of land.――The Committee will select according
to its judgment, a suitable site for the colony, will purchase the
same from the owners of the ground and execute a deed of purchase, in
the name of the President and two members of the Committee. If some
charitable association make a grant of money towards the purchase of
the land, in that case the Committee will be in a position to buy it
in the name of such association. If it be bestowed as a gift the deed
of purchase will be in accordance with its regulation and that of this
Committee.
“B. The acquisition of houses.――The Committee have prepared plans
respecting houses and stalls for herds and flocks, the purchase of
bricks, wood and all the requisites of a dwelling-house. It will
appoint inspectors over the work-people and a surveillance will be
exercised by the officers of the colony or those of the Committee.
“C. The obtaining of cattle and implements.――The Committee will choose
experienced men either from the members of the Committee or from the
colony to hand over to them money for the purchase of cattle and proper
implements of ploughing adapted to each family. These will be bestowed
on them according to priority.
“D. The wants of the congregation.――The Committee will provide money
for the erection of a synagogue, a Talmud Torah school, a hospital,
bath and washhouses, also for the erection of a small trading mart to
be managed in accordance with the regulations laid down by the officers
of the colony for the necessary transactions.”
ADDENDA
I. (vol. i., p. xxviii.)
IT is a thorough confusion of ideas to identify Zionists with the
Nationalists, Chauvinists and Jingoes of other nations. Judaism in
its ethics is more cosmopolitan than any other doctrine in the world.
In teaching that all men are brethren it lays the foundation of the
equality of men and races, and excludes in principle every impulse of
race egotism as immoral. In Judaism is therefore contained from the
beginning the suppression of national limitation and animosity. And
what is founded upon Judaism must necessarily prevail in Zionism, which
represents the quintessence of Judaism, with all the power of logic and
tradition. But it is just upon this point that those Jews who combat
Zionism make a surprising mistake. They attempt to make use of this
truth in order to prove that the Jewish nationality has to disappear
from this world. Here lies the fallacy. It is true that Judaism
rejects the ill-natured aloofness of one nation towards another, but
it is not true that Judaism strives after the suppression of national
distinctions, and it even borders on the ridiculous to suppose that
Judaism requires the suppression of Jewish nationality. Judaism, which
recognizes all natural formations, cannot wish to annihilate or to
suppress the manifoldness of the national articulation of humanity.
Apart from this all that is alive and modern has a tendency towards
the creation of a national culture. All valuable literature and art
bears a national character. Everything international is bare of colour
and expression. What the Jews do can generally also be done by others,
in a worse or better manner. What is of importance to humanity, are
the special values which the Jews as such create. The downfall of a
nationality which represents a state of culture would be equivalent
to a lessening of the spiritual possession of humanity. Besides,
the abrasion of the national leads throughout to a loosening of the
self-containing of the personality. It comes from the national instinct
of the individuality, and the imprint cannot be effaced without
internal injury. That is why Zionism means the return to the natural
character of the Jewish personality.
II. (vol. i., p. 5)
Anglo-Israelism, the theory which identifies the ancient Britons
with the Israelites, was originated by Richard Brothers (1757‒1829).
The chief exponents of this doctrine, which became the teaching of a
particular sect in England and America, were: J. Wilson, W. Carpenter,
F. R. A. Glover, Edward Hine, S. W. Greenwood, the Rev. W. H. Poole, S.
Bernatto and T. R. Howlett. The Anglo-Israelites have their literature
and periodical publications, in which they propagate their idea with
great zeal, and in the United States and in Britain to-day amount to
a very large number of believers. Without entering into a scientific
analysis of this doctrine, we must admit that the fact that a certain
number of English people are endeavouring to prove their Israelite
origin, is possible only in a country so strongly attached to the Bible,
including the Old Testament, as England. Other people would shrink
from the mere idea of being mixed up, even in the remotest degree, with
Israelites. Even Jewish assimilationists are inclined to accept any
extravagant hypothesis tending to prove that the present Jews are not
of pure Jewish or Semitic origin.
III. (vol. i., p. 100
The anonymous author of _A Treatise of the Future Restoration of the
Jews and Israelites to their Own Land_, etc. Addressed to the Jews.
(London, 1746), defended the idea without any allusion to conversion,
in a Jewish spirit, though he was evidently a non-Jew. He gave many
interesting descriptions of Palestine.
President Edwards, in his _History of Redemption_, says: “In future
glorious times, both Judah and Ephraim, or Judah and the Ten Tribes,
shall be brought in together, and shall be united as one people.” Mr.
Locke, giving the substance of the eleventh chapter of the Romans,
says: “When the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, the whole Jewish
nation shall again be restored to be the people of God.” Dr. W. Harris
observes that, as this Epistle (the Romans) was written about the year
57 ... and as the prophecies were not accomplished then, they have to
be accomplished.”
William Cunningham of Lainshaw, in his _Letters and Essays_ (London,
1822), has a series of letters on “The Literal Restoration of Israel to
their Own Land,” which are excellent both in style and learning.
IV. (vol. i., p. 106)
FROM THE ARCHIVES AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE
CARLOW,
_2nd March, 1841_.
MY LORD,
A Memorial has this day been transmitted to your lordship, praying
that Her Majesty’s Government may now exert its commanding influence
to secure the protection of the Jews in Palestine, and to afford them
facilities for returning to their own land. Though signed by only 320
persons, it contains, I believe, almost the unanimous expression of
Protestant feeling in this neighbourhood; almost every one to whom it
was presented cheerfully appended his name. It contains the signatures
of men of all ranks, of all political parties, and of different
religious denominations. The names of many Roman Catholics, both clergy
and laity, will be found attached to it.
The deep interest manifested by all classes in the subject of the
Memorial, as well as its transcendent importance, will, I sincerely
hope, secure for it an attentive consideration.
While the minds of a people, who have for many ages been crushed and
trodden under foot by all nations, are fixed with intense anxiety on
the measures which Her Majesty’s Government may now adopt for their
relief, multitudes of Christians, both at home and abroad, are watching
with intense interest the issue of our recent victories in Syria. The
tide of popular feeling also throughout the civilized world is now
turned in favour of the Jews, and nothing perhaps would tend more
strongly to secure our national tranquillity, heal divisions at home,
and unite men of all parties, than the adoption of vigorous measures
for the benefit of ancient Israel.
I pray your lordship to forgive these remarks, and to bear with me
while I add, that perhaps the very existence of our country depends
upon the manner in which the people of God are now treated by us. The
supreme Governor of Heaven and Earth has, by the prophet Isaiah (chap.
xxix. 7 and 8), passed a sweeping and universal sentence which must
operate with as unerring certainty as any of the ordinary laws of
nature. The total disappearance from the map of the world of many of
the most famous nations of antiquity――of Assyria, Babylon, Idumea,
etc., form the most impressive commentary on these awful words. It
is unnecessary to remind your lordship that England is implicated
in this capital offence of plundering, banishing, and massacring the
unresisting and often unoffending Jews, as it is indelibly engraven
on the page of her history. By what means we are to escape the
irreversible decree of Jehovah I know not, if not by manifesting
repentance for the cruel deeds of our ancestors, and by employing every
means now within our reach to render them kindness in return for the
miseries formerly visited upon them.
We hope that God has raised your lordship to your present exalted
station for such a time as this, and pray that He may honour you,
by making you an instrument of breaking the chains which have long
bound the land of His people, and that He may incline the heart of our
Sovereign and of Her Government to extend the wings of their protection
over that people from whom all our highest blessings and privileges
have come.
“Blessed shall those be who bless Israel, and cursed shall those be who
curse her.”
I am,
My Lord,
With much respect,
Your lordship’s obedient and humble servant,
(_Signed_) WARRAIN CARLILE,
Minister of the Scots’ Church, Carlow.
* * * * *
To LORD PALMERSTON,
Her Majesty’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
_Foreign Office_,
_March 8th, 1841_.
SIR,
I am directed by Viscount Palmerston to request that you will acquaint
the Parties resident at Carlow and in its vicinity who signed the
Memorial transmitted to His Lordship from Carlow on the 2nd of this
month, praying for the intervention of Her Majesty’s Government in
favour of the Jews who may be settled in Palestine or who may desire
to return there, that His Lordship has duly received their Memorial,
and desires to assure them that the interesting subject to which it
relates has not escaped the attention of Her Majesty’s Government, who
have made and are still making endeavours which they trust will not
be altogether without success, to obtain for such Jews as may wish to
settle in Palestine, full security for their persons and property.
THE DEAN OF LEIGHTON
and the Petitioners from Carlow.
* * * * *
CARLOW,
_March 2, 1841_.
To the Right Honourable
LORD PALMERSTON,
Her Majesty’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs
The Humble Memorial of the Undersigned Inhabitants
of Carlow and its Vicinity.
Your Memorialists take the liberty of presenting the following
statement to your Lordship in consequence of the success which the
Almighty has lately been pleased to grant to Her Majesty’s Arms in
Syria, and the peculiar position in which he has placed the British
Government with respect to the Jews: and they feel the more encouraged
to do it from the deep interest which your Lordship has already shown
in the Welfare of that people.
Your Lordship must be fully aware of the unparalleled sufferings which
the Jews have for Ages endured in the Land of their Fathers; and as
that Land has recently in the providence of God, been thrown in some
degree under British Power, Your Memorialists earnestly entreat that
Her Majesty’s Government may employ their present Commanding influence
to shield the unresisting Jews from further persecution, and to ensure
for them complete protection.
Your Memorialists feel much confidence in pressing upon Your Lordship’s
attention the claims of this much neglected people; for from whom could
they better expect a prompt and vigorous attention to these claims,
than from a Government which has already exerted itself so nobly in
the cause of Humanity and has set an example worthy the imitation of
the World in abolishing Slavery and in extending protection to the
oppressed.
Your Memorialists beg leave further to remind Your Lordship that the
Land of Palestine was bestowed by the Sovereign of the Universe upon
the descendants of Abraham as a permanent and inalienable possession
nearly 4000 Years ago, and that neither conquests nor treaties among
men can possibly affect their Title to it. He has also decreed that
they shall again return to their Country and that the Gentiles shall
be employed as the means of their restoration. “For thus saith the
Lord God, Behold I will lift up mine Hand to the Gentiles and set
up my Standard to the people, and they shall bring thy sons in their
Arms, and thy Daughters shall be carried upon their Shoulders, and
Kings shall be thy Nursing Fathers and their Queens thy Nursing
Mothers” (Isah. xlix.). Happy shall those be who shall be employed in
accomplishing God’s purposes of Mercy to His Ancient People, for “They
shall prosper who love Zion.” The honour and Happiness to be thus
attained appear now to be within our reach, and indeed to be offered
for our acceptance. It is foretold also that the Ships of Tarshish
shall be first employed in conducting the dispersed Tribes of Israel
to their Home; and who are more likely to be employed in this Service,
or could more easily accomplish it, than the Nation whose Fleets have
been long engaged in protecting and succouring the Wretched, and which
have access to most of the Countries where Jews are to be found!
That the promises of Jehovah shall be accomplished by some Gentile
Nation, is absolutely certain; and everything appears to indicate their
speedy fulfilment; and it remains now to be seen whether Her Majesty’s
Government is to be the chosen instrument in accomplishing this blessed
Work (as Cyrus the Great King of Persia was in ancient times) or
whether the Honour and Consequent prosperity are to be Conferred on
some other Maritime power.
Your Memorialists cannot conclude without reminding Your Lordship that
our own fate as a nation depends upon the manner in which we treat the
Jews, for the irreversible decree of Heaven is “The Nation or Kingdom
that will not serve Israel shall perish, Yea those Nations shall be
utterly consumed.”
Your Memorialists therefore pray Your Lordship to adopt such measures
as may appear to You best to secure full protection to the Jews in
their own Country, also to afford them assistance in gaining possession
of their Land, either by purchase or otherwise, and to afford
facilities to all who may be disposed to return to their inheritance.
And Your Memorialists will ever pray, etc.
V. (vol. i., p. 119)
“... Sir Moses called on Colonel Campbell, but he had to wait some
time before seeing him, as the Colonel was with the Pasha.¹ The Colonel
willingly consented to introduce Sir Moses to Boghoz Bey,² and fixed
four o’clock for the purpose. Colonel Campbell said he would call for
Sir Moses, and bring one of his horses for him.
¹ Mehemet Ali.
² Father of Boghoz Pasha, President of the Armenian National
Council in Paris, 1919. See _p._ 116.
“The Colonel was punctual, and we rode together to the residence
of Boghoz Bey. Sir Moses gave him three requests in writing, and he
promised to lay them before Mohammad Ali and explain them to him. The
Bey appeared well inclined to forward his requests, and offered to
present him to the Pasha either the same evening or the next morning....
“Boghoz Bey, the Pasha’s Minister of Commerce, had read over and
explained my requests to him on the previous evening, that he might
be fully aware of the object of my visit to him. Being anxious to have
Mohammad Ali’s answers in writing, which he said Boghoz Bey should give
me, as he had been present at our interview, I called on the Bey, but
he had not returned from the Palace.
“Between four and five I walked there with Dr. Loewe. Boghoz Bey
received me most politely, and said as I had not put my signature to
the written requests, he could not give me an answer in writing, but he
hoped I was perfectly satisfied with what Mohammad Ali had promised me
this morning. He added that as soon as I had made my several requests
in writing, and signed them, he would write me the answer, agreeably
with the Pasha’s words, as he had accorded me all I required.
“I thanked him, and immediately after the conclusion of Sabbuth I wrote,
and sent the several requests to Boghoz Bey, properly signed in the
form of letters....”¹
¹ Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore.... Edited by Dr.
L. Loewe, ... vol. i. London ... 1890. _pp._ 198‒200.
VI. (vol. i., p. 138)
In 1849 Colonel George Gawler accepted an invitation from Sir Moses
Montefiore to accompany him――together with Lady Montefiore――on a tour
through the Holy Land. It was arranged that they should leave England
about the 20th of April. They were, however, delayed three weeks by the
illness of Lady Montefiore. Gawler himself was not disappointed at the
delay, as he was hard at work studying Hebrew and Arabic, preparatory
for the tour. Eventually they started on May the 15th, and arrived at
Jerusalem on July 28th.¹
¹ _George Gawler, K.H._, by C. W. N. London, 1900, p. 56.
An enthusiastic Christian Zionist, Gawler was at the same time a
strong advocate of Jewish emancipation which was to him a duty of
justice, because: “First, it would be part payment of a heavy debt of
retribution that England owes to the Hebrew race for bygone centuries
of cruelty and oppression. Westminster Abbey itself was rebuilt by
money extorted from the Jews (Maddox’s _History of the Exchequer_, and
Hunter’s _History of London_). And, secondly, it would _be taking a
part_, which is to the honour and interest of the British Nation to
perform, in assisting the great movement of deliverance from oppression
and bondage that for many years past has been in operation throughout
the whole civilized world, in behalf of the Ancient People of God.”¹
¹ _The Emancipation of the Jews_, by Col. G. Gawler. London,
1847, Preface.
VII. (vol. i., p. 139)
The Rev. Alex. B. C. Dallas (1791‒1869), author of several works, said
in a lecture in 1845: ... “The first object is the time when Jerusalem
is to be safely inhabited by the people of Judah, as of old. This we
learn from Zechariah (XII. 6 and XIV. 11), and from all the prophets.
If then the western Jews of Europe were to be placed under some
political arrangement, with an independent jurisdiction over the city
and suburbs alone, that prophecy would be fulfilled” (_Present Times
and Future Prospects_, Rev. W. R. Fremantle. London, 1845, p. 116).
The Rev. W. R. Fremantle (1781‒1859), the editor of this volume and a
priest of great learning, dealing with the same subject, remarked: “It
has been thought that if cabinets of Europe only agree upon some terms,
and draw up a treaty for the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, the
whole matter would be speedily arranged. But if the position which our
subject holds in the coming future be correctly stated, then are there
many steps in this work of restoration. The first is evidently partial
and preparatory” (_Ibid._, pp. 253‒4).
The Rev. Williams Cadman said in the same series of lectures: “When the
storm is passed, Israel shall be found in peaceful and quiet possession.
The desolate land shall be tilled; the ruined places shall be built,
and the waste cities become fenced, and be inhabited, and filled with
flocks of men” (_Ibid._, pp. 303‒4).
In a Paper¹ read before the British Association of Science at Aberdeen,
September 16th, 1859, by Major Scott Philipps, on the Resettlement
of the Seed of Abraham in Syria and Arabia, it was shown that the
small portion they have hitherto possessed, by no means comprises the
whole grant of country given to Abraham, but that the whole of Arabia
Felix is included in that grant. Their full inheritance is given in
Deuteronomy xi. 24: ‘Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall
tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river,
the River Euphrates even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.’
¹ This paper has recently been reprinted.
“Now rule a line from the northern roots of Lebanon to the southern
roots of Sinai, and will not a perpendicular thereto point out the
uttermost sea to be the East Sea, or Sea of Oman? And the uttermost
sea opposite the River Euphrates, is it not the Red Sea?
“Thus the Euphrates, the Mediterranean, the Nile, and the Red Sea are
proved to be the boundaries of the Promised Land.”
The Rev. Jacob H. Brooke Mountain wrote in a letter published by Miss
Rosa Rame (_The Restoration of the Jews_, etc., dedicated to the Earl
of Shaftesbury. London, 1860):――
“There was a time, when the Duke of Wellington was at the head of
affairs, when the Navy of England was absolute on the ocean, and her
military glory at its height, and when the Jews would thankfully have
paid the whole expense of the expedition, that they might have been
put in possession of their own country. And England would have become
the first of the nations in Europe――our influence over Turkey, Greece
and Egypt rendered paramount――and a devoted ally attached to us. The
opportunity was lost; if it is ever vouchsafed to us again, I fervently
pray that we may embrace it with zeal and alacrity. The time may yet
come, if England has grace to use it.”
VIII. (vol. i., p. 152)
The clause as it is to be found in the General Treaty between Great
Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia and Turkey, signed
at Paris, March 30th, 1856, runs as follows:――
“M.T.Maj. the Sultan having in his constant solicitude for the welfare
of his subjects, issued a Firman which, while ameliorating their
condition without distinction of religion or of race, records his
generous intentions towards the Christian population of his Empire,”
etc. It is quite clear that the principle was “without distinction of
religion or race,” and that the grant of rights to the Christians is
only an application of a general principle in a special case.
In the second Protocol of the Conference of the 30th of August, 1860,
at Paris, signed by Metternich, Thouvenel, Cowley, Reuss, Kisseleff and
Ahmed Vefik, where the autonomy of the Lebanon was decided, reference
is made again to this paragraph:――
“Neanmoins ils ne peuvent s’empêcher, en rappelant ici les actes emanes
de Sa Majesté la Sultan dont l’article 9 du traité du 30 mars, 1856,
a constate la haute valeur,” etc. (_Recueil des Traités de la Porte
Ottoman_, 1884, T. 6, p. 45).
IX. (vol. i., p. 160)
It is noteworthy that Palestinian rabbis recognized the activity of
the English Consul. James Finn was, indeed, an English pioneer of the
idea of the colonization of Palestine and of England’s protection of
Palestinian Jews. He was appointed Consul before the death of Bishop
Alexander (who was a converted Jew and the first Bishop appointed by
the English Government in Jerusalem), in 1848, and the chief reason
for his appointment was his known love of the Jewish cause. He was at
the time a member of the London Society’s Committee, had published an
interesting and learned work on the History of the Spanish Jews, as
well as a book upon the Chinese Jews, had devoted himself with great
zeal and rare success to the study of Hebrew, which he spoke and wrote
with fluency, and was considered on this account to be particularly
well qualified for the post of Consul at Jerusalem (another proof of
the great appreciation of the National Jewish character of Palestine
on the part of the British Government at that time). Finn went out as
a devoted friend to the Jewish cause, and as such he proved himself.
Though an ardent Christian, he won the sympathy of the most orthodox
Jerusalem rabbis, and their moral support for the colonization of
Palestine. He was the son-in-law of Alexander McCaul, a distinguished
Christian Hebraist who devoted the greater part of his active life to
missionary work among the Jews. When the Bishopric of Jerusalem was
established in 1842, under the joint protection of the Queen of England
and the King of Prussia, McCaul was the first to be offered the See.
“By desire of the King of Prussia, and with the hearty concurrence
of the heads of the Church, the bishopric in Jerusalem was tendered
to Dr. McCaul, the worthiest, perhaps, of all the Gentiles for that
high honour. He demanded, however, but short time for deliberation and
refusal, declaring his firm belief that the Episcopate of St. James
was reserved, in the providence of God, for the brethren of the apostle
according to the flesh.”¹ Bishop Alexander was thereupon offered and
accepted the trust.
¹ _Jewish Intelligence_, June, 1842, p. 207.
X. (vol. i., p. 194)
Zionism is not merely an economic, but also, and perhaps primarily,
a spiritual movement. The Jewish people must be able to live in
accordance with the requirements of its soul in Palestine. Economically
it could perhaps live equally well elsewhere, but spiritually only
in its own historical and actual home. No people on earth have so
highly valued the spiritual as the Jews. The ever-recurring _motif_
of the _Thora_ (the Law) is the most striking proof of this conception.
The spiritual capacity of a people is not its all, but certainly
its highest possession. For this constituent complements all other
possessions and ennobles every other interest. Traditions are of high
standing, but ignorance and superstition cause otherwise good and great
traditions to become forces which, instead of working for good, only
interfere as disturbing, thwarting and perplexing elements in the
activities of life.
“The ignorant cannot be pious” was a good old saying of the ancients,
but of the impious learned ones, on the contrary, the saying was:
“May they but cherish the Law, for the light of the Law will turn them
towards the good.” Man must not, of course, regard learning as the
goal, but without knowledge his life and existence are blind; only in
the light of cognition can the traditions of a people assume the best
possible form. Historical reminiscences are of the greatest importance
for the consciousness of the people, but even they shrink into pitiful
narrowness if the breadth of outlook upon life be wanting. In any case
the fundamentally good is only sanctified when the pursuit of learning
has widened the horizon of everything human, and has taught the art of
building up with the best materials out of the past in harmony with the
present. This is the universal function of learning, and in comparison
with this sphere of action all other superficial functions sink into
mere activities which only acquire value through learning.
This fundamental idea, upon which the whole of Judaism is based, may be
illustrated from another aspect. When the Seventy Elders had translated
the Pentateuch into Greek, which was the most cultured language of
Antiquity, the learned ones complained and even went so far as to
assert in a paradoxical sentence: “The day on which this happened is
like unto the days of woe at the time of the destruction of the Temple.”
We have only succeeded by degrees in grasping the deep truth of this
sentence. Translation, generalization, localization may be necessary
in the Dispersion. But one must not be deceived: only that which is
written in the original tongue of the people is genuinely national. The
Law of the Jewish nation can only be preserved in all its originality
in the language of that nation.
That the _Shechinah_ (the glory of God) should languish in exile,
that the _Thora_ should have to share the hard fate of its bearers,
condemned to wander from place to place in foreign lands, seemed to
many a mystical idea. But, in reality, this idea is but an expression
of the conscious need or longing for the old home. There is not the
slightest trace of mysticism in this: it is a clear and illuminating
thought. Learning must, in order to be disseminated and perpetuated
among the successive generations, have some kind of institution
available for the purpose of an adequate interchange of ideas. For the
purposes of the formation of scientific, professional classes, for the
development of an organized system of education, for the vitalization
of the language, for the purpose of entering into relation with natural
surroundings, it is necessary to presume a whole series of cultural
precedents, which would probably be for the greater part of a practical
nature. Not until these conditions have been created will national
Jewish culture, ancient but ever young, appear in all its glory. In the
Dispersion there are, unfortunately, but a few who are able, through
the power of intuition, to realize the sublimity and depth of a chapter
from the Hebrew prophetic scriptures. They have preserved the Jewish
spirit, partly through atavism, and partly through tradition and long
study. But no outsider can experience the same feeling towards the
Hebrew bible as a Palestinian Jew. No one else either can rightly
understand a “Mishna” of the “Seder Z’raïm,” the part which treats of
the Palestinian flora, in spite of the most ingenious commentaries.
In the Ghetto, they only extract from the _Thora_ that for which the
Ghetto possesses understanding――the disputations concerning business
(_Dine momonoth_) or the Dietary Laws, and the laws concerning the
sabbath and the festivals. The _Thora_ in its entirety can only be
revived in Palestine. The Dispersion only possesses fragments of an
ancient national culture, which are, in every country, differently
valued, and vague remembrances and surmises of the nature of a national
feeling.
It stands to reason that a real national feeling can only develop in
Palestine. There this feeling would become what it is among all other
sound, healthy and civilized peoples: the joyful consciousness of
belonging to a nation that in life, customs and language bears the
impress of an ancient and yet new culture. It is in this and not in
the superficialities of a state that the centre of gravity of Zionist
efforts consists. What Zionists want is to find in the historical
fatherland the conditions requisite for the untrammelled development
of a Jewish nation. Zionism is in its deepest sense a product of Jewish
national consciousness.
What actually is national consciousness? National consciousness, a
product of a national common consciousness and of an historically
conditioned feeling of unity, is not based upon a single undertaking
by a single group of men, or of a single impulse in the history
of this group, but upon a certain inborn cultural value of a given
people. National consciousness thus expresses this value as a peculiar
embodiment of the human soul, which, during the course of special
lives enriches humanity so that the right is claimed for the nation
in question to safeguard its existence and to develop according to
its own individuality within the world of nations. This consciousness
is capable of a very varied development in strength, formation and
tendency. It manifests itself in the joy felt in the preservation of
its own national characteristics, in the promotion of its fitness, in
the relation of the efficiency of the individual to the welfare of the
whole, and in the willingness to sacrifice for the good of the whole
people. This consciousness possesses, besides, certain specific aspects
which are peculiar to the one nation more than to any other. It must
possess these specific aspects or else it would be nothing more than
an imitation or a continuation of its antithesis: assimilation.
Consequently a Jewish national consciousness must likewise lay emphasis
upon the specific aspects which are of a spiritual nature. The Jewish
people is essentially neither ambitious of domination, nor bent on
proselytizing, neither adventurous nor aggressive; it is a people
eminently endowed intellectually that wishes to enjoy the blessings of
peace. Some of the immoral backwaters of the national consciousness are
national pride, presumption, blindness to the qualities and efficiency
of foreigners, malicious envy, lust of domination, ill-will. The
Jewish people is sufficiently safeguarded against such failings by its
spiritual endowment.
XI. (vol. i., p. 205)
Dr. Chas. F. Zimpel published in 1865 an _Appel à la société Chrétienne
toute entière ainsi qu’aux Israelites, pour la déliverance de
Jerusalem_ (Frankfort-on-the-Main) in which he gave a description of
the deplorable conditions in Palestine, and appealed to Christians and
Jews to establish a new order of things in that country. He referred to
the ideas of Napoleon I., and mentioned a statement that Napoleon III.
made some definite promises in this matter: “Que S.M. Napoleon III.
en ait le pressentiment ou la conviction, il est certain que, d’après
ce qui m’a été communiqué, il a donné, il y a environ trois ans ... sa
parole de travailler dans ce but” (p. 12). This statement is evidently
related to the propaganda of M. Dunant, which was much stimulated
by the beginning of the work on the Suez Canal. Earlier, in 1852,
Zimpel had published a pamphlet, _Die Israeliten in Jerusalem_
(Stuttgart, 1852), in which he appealed to his readers for support
of the agricultural Jewish settlement established by the Americans in
the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Zimpel, who declared himself to be a
Christian, contributed five hundred florins. He mentioned among the
promoters of the idea the American Dr. J. T. Barclay, and a prominent
Jerusalemite, John Meshullam. About Meshullam, who was a baptized Jew,
born in London, who had had an adventurous career, a part of which was
spent in the service of Lord Byron, some interesting particulars are
given, under date 20th March, 1852, in _The Sabbath Recorder_ of New
York, No. 413, of the 20th of May, 1852. This paper quotes an extract
from a journal of Mr. C. S. Minor, an American (Christian) gentleman,
who was associated with Meshullam in his agricultural settlement at
Bethlehem:
“Through a recent petition of the Turkish Effendis of Jerusalem, the
Sultan has lately sent him (Meshullam) an offer of the site of the
ancient Cæsarea and its fertile vicinity, if he will undertake and
superintend its rebuilding and cultivation. This is greatly surprising
and important, as Cæsarea has the most lovely and easily rebuilt
ruins in Palestine, and is a point of great commercial importance and
entrance to the whole land, and was formerly the chosen port of the
Romans. This he declines from his love to Jerusalem and his suffering
brethren within its walls.”
Meshullam is again mentioned in Colonel George Gawler’s book, _Syria_,
etc. (London, 1853, p. 78): “Some have supposed that the Hebrew people
are at present unfitted for field or garden work. Such as think this
cannot have witnessed Hebrew labourers, aye, and Hebrew Rabbis, at work
in Mr. Meshullam’s farm at Urtan.”
XII. (vol. i., p. 216)
In the year 1884 the delegates of the _Chovevé Zion_ Unions, mostly
from Russia, met in conference at Kattowitz in Silesia, close to
the Russo-Polish frontier. A _Bne-Brith_ Union had formerly been
founded there which had for its object: “To afford moral and material
support for the foundation of colonies, to Jews undergoing religious
persecution.” The words “In Palestine” were only introduced later.
But in the appeal which this Union had circulated in 1882, Palestine
was expressly mentioned as the future home of the Jewish nation, and
the national future of the Jewish community was exalted with every
conceivable distinctness. In this appeal Palestine was opposed to
America, towards which the main stream of emigration was flowing, and
was represented as a suitable land of immigration on account of all the
reasons which it is usual to adduce: the low cost of the journey, the
value of the concentration of Jewish masses upon common territory; the
country’s fertility, among others. The president of this _Bne-Brith_
Lodge, M. Moses, was known as a zealous _Chovev Zion_. This
circumstance, and the proximity of the town to the Russo-Polish
frontier, were the reasons for its selection for the Conference.
The Conference had elected a central committee, whose seat should
originally have been in Berlin, but it turned out differently. Odessa
remained the centre of the Friends of Zion. It also determined that
henceforward a better administration of the funds was to be carried
through. An attempt was to be made to obtain the recognition of the
Society by the Russian Government; the position of the colonization
was to be tested on the spot, and it was only then to be determined
which colonies were to be supported. New foundations were not to be
considered in the meantime. Finally, a delegation was to be sent to the
Turkish Government to effect the removal of the difficulties standing
in the way of Jewish colonization in Palestine. Although, as had been
foreseen, it was not yet possible to gather all the threads into one
hand, the organizing thought and a Zionistic programme were proclaimed
here for the first time. The newly founded institution was given
the name “Maskereth Moshe,” or “Montefiore Foundation for Supporting
Colonies of the Holy Land,” so named in remembrance of Montefiore,
whose hundreth birthday had been celebrated with widespread enthusiasm,
especially in Russia. Through the sale of Montefiore pictures, the
first common fund, 40,000 roubles, had been raised.
The Conference had no great real success. In spite of the propaganda
undertaken by the central committee the movement came to a standstill.
Already, in 1887, a Conference was arranged at Drusgenik, Russia,
whose practical result differed but little from that of Kattowitz.
It was decided to support certain colonies, and an office was set up
in Palestine from which the negotiations with the Turkish Government
were to be conducted and the land purchases controlled. Though this
Conference was followed by a certain increase of the propaganda, the
undertaking on the whole was in such a bad way, partly on account
of the distressing condition of the Palestine colonies, that Pinsker
finally resigned. Not till the Conference at Wilna was a change brought
about, and when, in 1890, in consequence of the endeavours of the
tenacious and energetic friend of Zion――M. Zederbaum――the authorization
of the Russian Government had been obtained, the first general
meeting of the Odessa Committee, “The Society for Supporting Jewish
Agriculturists in Syria and Palestine” (as it called itself), was
held, and Pinsker assumed again the leadership of the movement. At this
point begins the really extensive activity of _Chovevé Zion_, chiefly
in Russia, although there were _Chovevé Zion_ Unions in nearly every
country, even in America. At the beginning of the last decade of the
nineteenth century the organization had reached its culminating point
of activity. But the formal foundation of this committee had taken
place at Kattowitz.
The Kattowitz Conference was, as Pinsker said, only a small beginning.
But still it was a beginning. It created a principle and a method
which only prevailed later. The insignificant real importance of the
Conference is not inconsistent with its great historic significance.
Result did not follow immediately upon this event, but the historian
must trace back all the recent development of the Zionist idea to that
date, because for the first time in a Jewish assembly the new spirit
assumed shape and expression. Thus in the end history must consider
the Kattowitz Conference as the seed out of which first of all a tender
plant grew, but which, after wearisome development, spread out into a
tree beneath whose shade Israel will some day find repose.
XIII. (vol. i., p. 276)
In the year 1840, Luzzatto wrote to Jost: “... and when at last, oh,
Jewish scholars of Germany will the Lord open your eyes? How long
will you refuse to see how wrongly you act by following the crowd,
extinguishing national pride, allowing the language of our forefathers
to fall into oblivion and letting Hellenism (Atticism) grow up in
our midst? As long as you allow your brethren to persevere in the
delusion that the ideal of perfection is nothing else than imitation of
neighbours and the consideration gained therefrom; as long as you will
not have attained enough self-consciousness to instruct the people out
of full zeal for God, truth and Jewish confraternity to uphold that
the greatest good is not anything visible but that which is felt deep
within the heart, that the happiness of our nation is not dependent on
emancipation but on our love to one another, on our holding together
in brotherly union, and that this feeling of correlation is gradually
dwindling as a result of emancipation; as long as you maintain that
emancipation countries are paradisaic countries for the Jews, the
saying of the prophet Malachi will necessarily apply to you:
“‘Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the
people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in
the law.’”
In a letter of the year 1855, Luzzatto writes to one of his disciples:
“Your Hebrew letter gave me real pleasure.... Honour be to you for
wishing to accustom yourself to write and speak Hebrew. For the
language of our ancestors is the bond which links together the sons of
the Jewish nation who are scattered all over the world, and it is that
which conjoins all generations, and brings us nearer our ancestors as
well as the generations which will come after us.”
On another occasion Luzzatto expressed himself on the idea of a Jewish
mission in the Diaspora: “These are indeed words which charm the ear
flatteringly, but in fact they are just empty phrases. The Bible has
already been propagated among peoples for many generations, and gains
in diffusion from day to day without Jewish assistance. Now, if the
propagation of the Bible within a space of time of eighteen hundred
years has not brought humanity perceptibly nearer perfection, what
can the Jews contribute thereto, especially those who do not believe
in the divinity of the _Thora_? But apart from the fact that, as I
have expounded, it is a delusion to believe that the only purpose
of existence of Judaism is to lead humanity towards perfection, as
the author (Philipsohn) and his adherents believe, it is also a vain
delusion to think that humanity will ever reach the state of perfection
which the author describes in his writings.”
When Luzzatto heard, in the year 1854, that Albert Cohn, of Paris, was
going to Palestine, he wrote to him:――
“Only unthinking people can suggest that Jewish children should be
sent from Asia to large European cities to be brought up there, and
thus diffuse our culture among our brethren in Asia; that is heartless
egoism and unbelief, fine outer forms and inward corruption.”
“Judaism must be relieved of foreign pressure. The Jews of the Holy
Land must be provided with soil to till and means of exploitation. Care
must also be taken that their crops are not robbed by the Pashas and
Beduins. Then they will cultivate the soil as in the times of the Bible,
Mishna and Talmud. This cannot succeed in Jerusalem, since, as a place
of pilgrimage, it has become the abode of people who divest themselves
of all worldly cares and true social duties. Judaism has never built
cloisters for recluses and has never countenanced idleness. But is
it to be wondered at that whilst all nations from far and wide went
on pilgrimage to the Sepulchre, Jehuda Halevy, Nachmanides and other
devout men, after a life of strenuous toil, should have wished to
pay honour to the seat of holiness and to end their lives in saintly
seclusion? Jerusalem will necessarily remain a sacred city for all
peoples. Therefore, for the present, it cannot be regarded as a
possible capital of the country. Otherwise all Palestine should
be tilled and cultivated by the Jews, that it may flourish from an
agricultural and industrial point of view and arise again in its
old splendour. The main consideration is that no impediments should
be placed by the Government in the way of the free development of
Jewish industry. The Jews are known all over the world as particularly
industrious and capable. Why, then, should they be loungers in
Palestine? That they are so at present has two local reasons; the
one, the pressure of neighbouring nations and the negligence of the
administration, and the other the Indian as well as Mohammedan, but
not at all Jewish, conception of the holiness of inactive life. The
local pressure must be removed as far as possible. But we must rouse
our brethren to useful activity, urge them onwards in every way, and
breathe into them the spirit of a new life.”¹
¹ Prof. D. Kauffmann, _Correspondence of Samuel David Luzzatto_,
Dr. J. Klausner. Haschiloach, April, 1901.
XIV. (vol. i., p. 280)
The eloquent passion with which Bialik expresses the woe of the Jewish
people runs like a red thread through all his national poems; but it
reaches its climax in _The Poems of Wrath_――a series of these poems
written on the occasion of the Kishineff massacre in 1903. This series
above all other poems of his is the most terrible expression of the
national grief, despair and rage accumulated during the centuries of
persecution, and is a masterpiece of vigour and impetuosity.
XV. (vol. i., p. 280)
Achad Ha’am’s writings offer an abundance of instructive historiosophic
thoughts, mostly propounded in fragmentary, aphoristic form, which
point in their entirety to a common root and a uniform outlook and
system of ideas on the part of this thinker, and show the way thereto
to many a reader. The stimulus of his theories lies in the fact that
they have nearly always had a background of actuality. Achad Ha’am
is no historiosopher within the narrow meaning of the word; his aim
is primarily directed towards present-day problems of Judaism, but he
often seeks their solution in the past. Thence he traces the primordial
causes of what occupies us at present. This trait alone makes him
not only national, like nearly all authors of our present Hebraic
Renaissance period, but even more, it invests him with the sanction
of a learned Hebrew thinker and an inspired intellectual leader.
His methodology is philosophic and somewhat attuned to the Hegelian
dialectic of thought, and in this connection too, apart from the
community of national fundamental conception, it brings him close to
Nachman Krochmal. Evolution is the idea which chiefly directs him, and
psychology――particularly of human groups, parties and nations――appeals
most to his refined mind. In all his endeavours he affirms the fluidity
of the national character, and its adaptability under the pressure of
historio-cultural factors. But it is just on this account that he is so
firmly convinced of the necessity of Jewish individuality and its free
development. He perceives the essence of this individuality in Jewish
intellectual life, and he longs for a centre for it in Palestine.
Achad Ha’am expounded the essential Zionist idea long before the
Zionist Organization was established, but opposed some political
methods proposed by the Zionist Organization. He rejected the kind
of Zionism which had its adherents mostly in Western Europe, and is
inspired merely by anti-Semitism and its outrages, and he advocated
Zionism as an expression of Judaism, of Jewish feeling, of a revival of
the people by virtue of a great Jewish national idea――with a spiritual
centre in Palestine.
XVI. (vol. i., p. 313)
Jews may have native countries, the Jewish nation has none, and this
is its misfortune. The Jewish nation must again feel its own stretch of
earth under its feet, and draw new material and moral forces from the
native soil. But this must not be understood as if it were demanded
that all Jews should leave their present homesteads in order to
populate their chosen land. This is not what is meant. The Jewish idea
of nationality does not aim at uniting the Jews in one country or at
giving them a national status in their Dispersion, but at creating a
national centre for Judaism. A considerable part of the nation, which
will naturally be recruited first of all in the countries where Jewish
oppression is heaviest, is to settle upon the soil which is intended to
be the home of the Hebrew race. There it will win through agriculture
that attachment to the soil which preserves a country to a nation, and
it will find that bodily and moral welfare which must be the proper
aim of all Jewish aspirations. The advantages of such an eventuality,
also for those Jews remaining outside the national area and status,
are self-evident. The foremost attainment would be that the Jewish
population in the countries of European civilization would be
constantly maintained as to numbers, through periodic eliminations,
below that point of saturation, above which experience shows that the
Jews are no longer welcome. Naturally this would also bring about a
considerable relief to anti-Jewish tension, a decrease of the intensity
of the struggle for life of the Jewish masses, and also, possibly,
render easier the juridical equalization of the Jews in the countries
of greatest pressure.
In addition to these will come the effect of the development of the
Jewish land upon the Jews of other countries. The consciousness of the
existence of a living Jewish people possessing a country of its own,
a field of cheerful activity for sons at home, a refuge for sons from
afar, will also ennoble and elevate, fortify and temper the Jews of
the Diaspora. The curse of exciting ridicule, which makes misfortune
doubly hard to bear, will recede from them: their whole status among
the nations will become normal and healthy. The relations between
Jews and Gentiles which, for all assimilations and emancipations, and
notwithstanding all goodwill on both sides――why not admit it?――still
retain so much of what is forced and painful, will only then become
unconstrained and unaffected. Dislike of the Jews may possibly not
cease; but, at any rate, it will lose all justification for existing
in its peculiar shape and acuity. Should this dislike nevertheless
prevail, the importance of a centre will become all the more apparent.
The smallest national autonomous community has a seat and voice in
the concert of nations. A nation without national worth is a nation
outlawed. However pessimistic one may be with regard to the possibility
of a small national centre to exert any material political influence in
other countries, its moral authority is certain.
XVII. (vol. ii., p. 47)
The interest of Mr. C. P. Scott, Mr. H. Sidebotham, also of _The
Manchester Guardian_ but now of _The Times_, and other non-Jewish
friends in Manchester in the Zionist Movement led to the establishment
in that city, in the autumn of 1916, of the British Palestine Committee,
formed to further the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth in
Palestine, under British protection. In the words placed in the
forefront of its programme: “The British Palestine Committee seeks
to reset the ancient glories of the Jewish nation in the freedom of a
new British dominion in Palestine.” The activities of this Committee
have displayed themselves for the most part through its press organ,
_Palestine_, which, appearing weekly, supplies the influential public
among which it circulates with valuable information on all matters
relating to Palestine, and at the same time discusses all the phases of
international politics which touch upon the Palestine question in any
of its facets. In addition to _Palestine_ the Committee is responsible
for two publications, _England and Palestine_, by Mr. H. Sidebotham, in
which the author puts the case for a British mandateship, and _British
Projects for the Restoration of the Jews_, a pamphlet by Mr. Albert
M. Hyamson, wherein he sketches the attitude of British statesmen and
publicists towards the projected restoration of the Jews to Palestine
during the century and more that preceded the outbreak of the European
War of 1914.
XVIII. (vol. ii., p. 54)
In the earlier part of the year 1917, about the date of the opening
of the London Bureau of the Zionist Organization, the present writer,
being the only member of the Inner Actions Committee in England, felt
it desirable to give some definite status to those trusted supporters
of the Zionist cause to whose advice Dr. Weizmann and he were
continually informally having recourse. The constitution of the
Organization did not permit of any definite responsibility being
assigned to them. It was therefore possible to form only an Advisory
Committee, without any executive authority. The Political Committee
that came into existence at that time, and continued its existence
until the arrival in England of a number of the members of the Greater
Actions Committee enabled that constitutional Organization to resume
its functions, was composed originally of Ahad Ha’am, Mr. Leopold
Kessler, Mr. Joseph Cowen, Mr. Herbert Bentwich, Mr. Albert M. Hyamson,
Mr. Simon Marks (who acted as Honorary Secretary), Mr. Harry Sacher,
Mr. Israel Sieff, Mr. Leon Simon, two foreign Zionists――M. J. Ettinger,
of the Jewish National Fund, and M. S. Tolkowsky, of Rechoboth,
Palestine――who were temporarily resident in London, together with Dr.
Weizmann and the present writer as chairman.
♦CORRIGENDA
VOLUME I.
Page xxvii. Six lines from the bottom. _For_ “See the Chapter on
Zionism and the War” _substitute_ “See Volume II.,
pp. 1 ff.”
Page xl. Line 9. _Delete_ “Arthur,” _substitute_ “Albert.”
Line 22. _Delete_ “Moro,” _substitute_ “Morot.”
Line 23. _Delete_ “Andre,” _substitute_ “André.”
Five lines from the bottom. _For_ “Frederick”
_substitute_ “Frederic.”
Page 8. The last three lines of the note contain the title of
the Yiddish translation of “The Merchant of Venice.”
Page 12. Insert quotation marks (“) before “It” at opening of
last paragraph.
Page 23. Line 12. _For_ מרה _substitute_ מרא.
Page 26. Three lines from the end. _For_ “Gebirol” _substitute_
“Gabirol.”
Last line. _For_ “Kalonymus” _substitute_ “Kalonymos.”
Page 27. Line 1. _For_ “Kalonymus” _substitute_ Kalonymos.”
Page 35. Line 2. _Insert_ “shall” _at end of line_.
Page 59. Line 9. _After_ “Manuel” _insert_ “Noah.”
Page 82. Five lines from the end. _Omit_ “_de la Gironde_.”
Page 95. Note 2. _Transfer_ date “(1835‒1906)” _to end of
first line_.
Page 126. Line 5. _For_ “Reschid” _substitute_ “Reshid.”
Page 144. First note. _Delete second sentence. Substitute_ “He
appeared as a pseudo-messiah about the year 1160.”
Line 24, and second note. _Delete_ “1918.” Lord Morley
is fortunately still alive.
Page 182. The three lines from the end. _For_ “1826‒1887”
_substitute_ “1826‒1882.”
Page 193. Last line but one. _For_ שחטה _substitute_ שחטא.
Page 213. Line 18. _After_ “poet” _insert_ “and novelist.”
Page 222. Line 11. _For_ אמתי _substitute_ אימתי.
Page 235. Line 4. _For_ “hoards” _substitute_ “hordes.”
Page 254. Line 2. _For_ “Frederick” _substitute_ “Frederic.”
Page 257. Line 1. _After_ “Jockey Club” _insert_ “of Paris.”
Page 258. Line 13. _For_ “Petrograd” _substitute_ “St. Petersburg.”
Page 266. Line 3. _For_ “Uganda” _substitute_ “East African.”
Page 269. Line 22. _For_ “Bahar” _substitute_ “Behar.”
Page 275. Line 2 of note. _For_ “Hakalah” _substitute_
“Haskalah.”
Page 278. Line 22. _For_ “Petrograd” _substitute_ “St.
Petersburg.”
Page 280. Line 3. _For_ “Noach” _substitute_ “Nachman.”
Line 27. _For_ “Scernichowsky” _substitute_
“Tschernichowsky.”
Page 284. Line 22. _For_ “Shmarya” _substitute_ “Shemaryah.”
Line 24. _For_ “Viktor Jakobsohn” _substitute_
“Victor Jacobsohn.”
Page 292. Line 38. _For_ “Slouchz” _substitute_ “Slousch.”
Page 296. Line 15. _For_ “Jewish Territorial Association”
_substitute_ “Jewish Territorial Organization.”
Line 6 from the end. _For_ “Uganda in East Africa”
_substitute_ “British East Africa.”
Page 297. Last line. _For_ “Uganda” _substitute_ “British East
Africa.”
Page 302. First line of note. _For_ “Araber” _substitute_
“Arab et.”
Page 304. Paragraph 3, line 1. _For_ “the first” _substitute_
“an early.”
Paragraph 3, line 11. _For_ “invasion” _substitute_
“revolt.”
VOLUME II.
Page 44. Line 4. _For_ “Uganda” _substitute_ “a territory in
East Africa.”
Page 62. Line 4. _After_ “harmful” _insert_ “but he afterwards
withdrew his resignation.”
Mr. Gilbert did not resign from the Conjoint Committee,
of which he was not a member. He resigned his membership
of the Board of Deputies in order that the prospective
president, Sir Stuart Samuel, might be elected in his
place.
Line 24. _Omit_ “late.”
Page 80. Line 9. _For_ “judge” _substitute_ “justice.”
Line 24. _For_ “Shmaria” _substitute_ “Shemaryah.”
Page 82. Line 1. _For_ “Levin” _substitute_ “Lewin.”
Page 87. Line 4. _After_ “by any means” _insert_ “a desert.
But a little Jewish state in Palestine would serve as.”
Page 134. Line 18. _For_ “Levin” _substitute_ “Lewin.”
Page 140. Line 8 from the end. _For_ “Jewish Territorial
Association” _substitute_ “Jewish Territorial
Organization.”
Page 152. Line 3 from the end. _For_ “_Essalt_” _substitute_
“Es-Salt.”
Page 161. Line 4 from the end. _For_ “generations” _substitute_
“centuries.”
Page 215. Note 1. _After_ “Breslau” _insert_ “Jewish Theological.”
By a misunderstanding, words have in many instances in the first volume
and in the earlier half of the second volume of this work been printed
in italics quite unnecessarily. Chronological dates have also in some
instances been supplied where they have not been called for.
♦ All noted corrections have been made in the text. None of
the italicized words have been changed because a detailed
list was not given and some words may have been italicized
correctly.
CATALOGUE
OF THE
ENGRAVINGS, LITHOGRAPHS, PAINTINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, Etc.
From which the illustrations in this book have been taken.
=(Prepared by Mr. ISRAEL SOLOMONS).=
* * * * *
=★ Israel Solomons’ Collection. B.M. British Museum.=