THE MOVEMENT IN AMERICA
Zionism echoed in America――Emma Lazarus――A call――Emma Lazarus
and George Eliot――Mrs. Rose Sonnenshein――The Opposition――A
Tour to Palestine――The Colonies.
THESE ideas were echoed in a sublime form in English-speaking American
Jewry by the poetess Emma Lazarus (1849‒1887), one of the most
eloquent champions of the Jewish national idea in the English language.
The story of Emma Lazarus’ life is the story of a soul ever striving
and pressing ahead towards truth and the light. Her works clearly
reflect the progress of her ideas. She was a born songstress, yet she
did not sing like the nightingale for the joy of being alive. There
was a shadow of sadness resting on her entire being, something born
with her as part of her disposition and temperament, the stamp and
heritage of a suffering race. _Hebraism_ lay dormant in this Jewish
poetess. She was much influenced by Heinrich Heine (1797‒1856).
Charmed by the beauty of his poetry, the whimsical play of his
imagination and the heart’s muffled outburst audible through it all,
she was nevertheless unaware of the actual bond that united them: the
relationship in the blood, the unquenchable flame of the tragic Jewish
passion of eighteen hundred years, which was smouldering in her own
heart, and was soon to break forth and change the entire tendency of
her thoughts and feelings.
The persecutions of the Jews in 1880‒1884 were for Emma Lazarus
a clarion call that awoke slumbering and unrealised feelings and
aspirations. She was an assimilated Jewess herself at the beginning
of her literary career. She had been in search of heroic ideals in
alien fields, in Pagan mythology and in mystic, mediæval Christianity,
ignoring all the time her birthright――the glorious vista of a great
past and of a still greater future for the Jewish nation. Judaism had
been a dead letter to her. But with the outbreak of the persecutions
she found herself again. From this time dated the mission which
she undertook on behalf of her race, and the expansion of all her
faculties, that growth of spiritual power which is always stimulated
when a great cause is championed and strong convictions awaken the
soul. Emma Lazarus became an inspired poetess of the Jewish national
idea. Her whole being had reshaped itself and found nourishment at an
inexhaustible source. She threw herself into the study of her race,
its language, its literature and history. Breaking the outward shell,
she soon reached the kernel of the faith and the “miracle” of its
survival. What was it other than the ever-present, ever life-inspiring
spirit itself, which cannot die――the religious and ethical zeal which
fills the whole history of the Jewish people, and of which she herself
felt the living glow within her own soul? She had discovered the
secret and the genius of Judaism――that complete transfusion of spirit
with body and substance which, taken literally, often reduces itself
to rites and ceremonies, but viewed in a proper light takes a nobler
shape and form, and spreads its light over humanity in the prophets,
teachers and saviours of mankind.
The idea that aroused the imagination of Emma Lazarus was a restored
and independent nationality and the repatriation of the Jews in
Palestine. In an article on the “Jewish Problem,” she wrote:――
“I am fully persuaded that all suggested solutions other than this of
the Jewish problem are but temporary palliatives.¹
¹ _Century_, February, 1883, _p._ 610.
“The idea formulated by George Eliot has already sunk into the minds
of many Jewish enthusiasts, and it germinates with miraculous rapidity.
‘The idea that I am possessed with,’ says Mordecai, ‘is that of
restoring a political existence to my people, making them a nation
again, giving them a national centre, such as the English have, though
they, too, are scattered over the face of the globe. That is a task
which presents itself to me as a duty.... I am resolved to devote my
life to it. At the least, I may awaken a movement in other minds such
as has been awakened in my own.’” Could the noble poetess who wrote
these words have lived until to-day, she would have been astonished
at the flame which her torch has kindled and the practical shape which
the movement brought to public notice by her has begun to assume.
In November, 1882, her first _Epistle to the Hebrews_ appeared as one
of a series of articles written for the _American Hebrew_. Addressing
herself to a Jewish audience, she unfolded her views and hopes
for Judaism without reserve, on the one hand passionately urging
its claims and its high ideals, and on the other dispassionately
describing the shortcomings and peculiarities of her race. She says:
“Every student of the _Hebrew_ language is aware that we have in
conjugation of our verbs a mode known as the _intensive voice_, which,
by means of an almost imperceptible modification of vowel-points,
intensifies the meaning of the primitive root. A similar significance
seems to attach to the Jews themselves in connection with the
people among whom they dwell. They are the _intensive form_ of any
nationality whose language and customs they adopt.... Influenced
by the same causes, they represent the same results: but the deeper
lights and shadows of the Oriental temperament throw their failings,
as well as their virtues, into more prominent relief.”
In drawing the Epistles to a close,¹ she summarized the special
objects she had in view: “My chief aim has been to contribute my mite
towards arousing that spirit of Jewish enthusiasm which might manifest
itself:――
¹ February 24, 1883.
“_First._ In a return to the world pursuits and broad asylum of
physical and intellectual education adopted by our ancestors:
“_Second._ In a more fraternal and practical movement towards
alleviating the sufferings of oppressed Jews in countries less
favoured than our own:
“_Third._ In a closer and wider study of _Hebrew_ literature and
history: and, finally, in a truer recognition of the large principles
of religion, liberty and law upon which Judaism is founded, and which
should draw into harmonious unity Jews of every shade of opinion.”
Her verses rang out as they had never sounded before, like
clarion notes, calling a people to heroic action and unity, to the
consciousness and realization of a great destiny.
What the annals of the “Lovers of _Zion_” in America tell us
concerning the rise and progress of the Zionist idea shows that the
seed sown by Emma Lazarus took deep root in the hearts of the Jews,
and brought forth abundant fruit. She created a high sense of Jewish
self-consciousness, and spread a holy love and devotion to a great
ideal in the hearts of those who had not hitherto reflected on their
national duty and its importance.
In the _American Jewess_¹ an article appeared on the “Dream of
Nationality,” by Mrs. Rose Sonnenshein, the editress, one of the
few Jewesses who had as yet written a word on this question. She
wrote: “To our mind there is no loftier ideal worth realization
than _Israel’s_ dream of Nationality.... What Jew has not dreamed of
_Israel_ again as a nation? It can be confidently asserted that among
the sons and daughters of the Covenant it is an exceptional one who
has not at some time dwelt upon such a possibility. Who has not given
the loose rein to fancy and indulged in visions of _Judah_ re-born,
free, great and glorious, one of the Sister States in a modern
federation of nations? ... has not had visions of ourselves as
patriotic Jews, proudly pointing to the Eagle of _Judah_, the emblem
of a free and happy people? To the wandering son of _Israel_ the
knowledge that a recognized government stood behind him to protect
him in his rights when he demands reparations of insult or injury and
sustain him as the equal of citizens of other nations would endow him
with a dignity of which centuries of oppression have robbed him, and
which not even the widest modern freedom has fully restored.”
¹ April, 1897.
The question of the attitude of the Jews, particularly of “the
leading and wealthy Jews,” towards Zionism arose at different times
in the English Press. Amid much friendly criticism called forth by
the publication of Emma Lazarus’ writings, two plausible objections
were raised. The first was that before an appeal to the world, an
appeal should be made to the Jews themselves, in order to elicit some
evidence as to their feelings on the question. The second was that,
even were the Jews to be restored, a difficulty would immediately
arise as to the means of subsistence or the kind of employment to be
found for them.
It was not an easy task to gain the sympathy and the support of many
“leading and wealthy Jews” for the national idea in Western Europe
and America. Many who were ready to admit the truth of the Zionist
conclusion were troubled by their ideas about humanity. It must be
borne in mind that only in the nineteenth century did the idea of
nationality reappear in its ancient form, and that as late as the end
of the eighteenth century it was considered a sign of advanced culture
to have triumphed over national narrow-mindedness and to desire
emancipation for the whole of humanity. The Middle Ages knew nothing
of nationality in our sense, and therefore a sense of nationality
could not be expected of the Jews. But in the nineteenth century first
hatred and then science began to recognize the nationality of the Jews.
On the one hand antagonists zealously put forth new arguments to prove
that the Jews were a distinct people, who had never yet been absorbed
by their environment; on the other hand scientific research brought
forward undeniable proofs of the physical, intellectual and moral
peculiarities of the Jewish race. And just because separatism was
emphasized and made use of by their enemies, some Jews considered
that for the purpose of self-defence it was best to deny it: or at
any rate their unjustifiable timidity and unreasonable sensitiveness
prevented them from admitting it. They forgot that for centuries the
furious storms of invective and calumny had been raging around their
people, and that there were no malignant suspicions, no treacherous
insinuations, no absurd accusations, that had not been levelled at
them, whether they admitted the fact of their distinctiveness or not.
Anti-Semitism raged most against those Jews who showed particularly
assimilative tendencies, and aroused against them every kind of hatred
and rancour, regardless of the question whether they were faithful to
their past and to their ideals, or otherwise.
Some Jews imagined erroneously that the question at issue was one of
their rights in different countries. They forgot that they must demand
equality of rights as Jews, and not as a prize for giving up what they
could not give up――their history, their distinctiveness. Others, again,
confounded Jewish national self-consciousness with what the gentiles
regard as nationalism――aspirations generally of an aggressive and
reactionary character. Some wealthy Jews were unfortunately lulled
into a pernicious feeling of security or fatal indifference. What did
they give to the masses? A cheque for charity, whenever it was wanted,
of course; but that was all. Insurance money or conscience money,
whichever it may be called, they gave; but of personal devotion,
of serious anxiety or steady resolve to ameliorate the lot of
_Israel_――nothing. They asked, how can a national ideal help poor
people? They did not understand that it can help them more than
money: that it eases their sufferings, renders their sorrows and
disappointments less distressing, teaches them to search their own
hearts, to consider their own ways.
It is clear that the “Lovers of _Zion_” in England and America had a
hard fight. They knew that if they attempted to satisfy all sections
of Jews they could not remain faithful to the nation, whose greatest
interest and immediate concern it is to pave the way for a final
solution of its problem. The truth had dawned upon them that for
thousands of years there had always been a restless desire on the part
of the Jews to get back to Palestine, and that this wish arose from
deep religious, traditional and national principles and hopes. It is a
feeling inherited by the Jew and fostered in him from the cradle. The
ancient home of the ancient nation is Palestine: to that land their
eyes, their hopes and their hearts are always turned. This attachment
does not interfere with their sincere patriotism and loyalty to
the countries wherein they live. Those who live in other countries,
and are satisfied, may remain there. The Jewish masses will go to
Palestine as soon as they have the possibility of doing so. Palestine
must become the home of the nation, not merely of individuals. It
did not matter to the “Lovers of _Zion_” that some wealthy Jews did
not wish for the national re-birth; they simply emulated careful and
prudent physicians, who, when they visit their patients, do not ask
them what they like best, and then prescribe what is most pleasing
to their palates, though perhaps most hurtful, but, having carefully
studied the ailments of their patients, order them to take what
they deem most necessary for them, even though it be not pleasing or
acceptable.
In 1897 Mr. Herbert Bentwich, LL.B., organized in London the
“_Maccabean_” tour to Palestine, in which twenty-one persons took
part. Under his guidance this party of Jewish travellers proceeded
to Palestine, and got into close touch with the Jewish population of
the country, especially with the colonists. On _Sabbath Hachodesh_
(3 April, 5657), the late Chief _Rabbi_, the Very Rev. Dr. Hermann
Adler (1839‒1911), delivered an eloquent sermon¹ at the Hampstead
synagogue, in which he said:――
¹ “God-speed to the Pilgrims.”
“... But one of the most attractive portions of your tour will, I
think, be your visits to some of the colonies. And in this connection
I may give an illustration of the vivid interest taken in your journey
by the residents in the Holy Land. A well-informed correspondent
writes to the _Jüdische Presse_ expressing his regret that the only
Jewish colony you contemplate inspecting is _Rosh Pinah_, certainly
the most romantically situated, and that you will not see the
prosperous settlement ‘_Rishon-le-Zion_,’ nor the agricultural school
‘_Mikveh Israel_,’ and he advises a route which would enable you to
see a number of new settlements, and some thirteen Jewish villages
that have sprung up within the last ten years. Now undoubtedly
great things have already been accomplished in training the hapless
immigrants from Russia and Roumania to become hardy tillers of the
soil ... well-trained Jewish horticulturists are at the head of each
settlement, that Jewish farmers, peasants and labourers toil with
splendid diligence ... 50, 000 eucalyptus trees planted in _Gadra_
to counteract malarial influences; 2,000,000 of vines that have been
grafted by Jews in _Rishon-le-Zion_, _Petach Tikvah_ and _Zichron
Jacob_, and of the excellent wine that is produced there. In
_Rishon-le-Zion_ there are numbers of smiths and coopers.... But yet
I feel confident that this pilgrimage will exercise an abiding effect
on your spiritual life. It is a well-authenticated fact that _de_
Saulcy [L. F. J. Cagnart] (1807‒1880), the great Oriental traveller,
confessed that he went to Palestine as an unbeliever, and that he
returned from there with a profound faith in the truth of the Bible.
You, I hope, do not need to have your faith thus strengthened. But
I ardently trust that by this pilgrimage there will be engendered
in your hearts ... a stronger sentiment of brotherhood, ... a more
enthusiastic devotion to ... _Zion_ and _Jerusalem_,...”¹
¹ _Jewish Chronicle_, 9th April, 1897, _p._ 21.
Illustration: 5657 * THE MACCABÆAN PILGRIMAGE * 1897
The visit of this party was a new feature in the Jewish history of
Palestine. It was looked upon with satisfaction, as indicating the
growing interest of English Jews in Palestine. It took place at the
very moment when modern Zionism entered upon the scene, on the eve of
the first Congress, and, so far as English Jews were concerned, it had
a good moral influence.