THE FIRST ZIONIST CONGRESS
The general impression――The proclamation of the Jewish
national idea――The Basle Programme――The first Executive
Central Committee――Prof. ♦Hermann Schapira――Christian visitors
at the first Congress――Letters of the Grand _Rabbin_ of
France, _M._ Zadoc Kahn, and of the _Haham_ of the Spanish
and Portuguese Jewish community of London, Dr. Moses Gaster.
♦ “Herman” replaced with “Hermann”
THE first Zionist Congress met in Basle on August 29th, 1897.
This gathering will one day be surrounded by a halo of mythical
significance and glory. There were about 200 delegates from almost
every country in the world at this Jewish national assembly, the
first convened since the Exile by the Jewish people themselves. The
enthusiasm was beyond description. For the first time in the Diaspora
the Jewish people felt strong and free. Divided by exile, it was again
united by national ties as well as by those of a history of common
suffering and common hopes. The convener of the Congress received
endless ovations. All those present realized the historic event in
which they were taking part. The Congress solemnly proclaimed to the
listening world that the Jews are a nation. It pictured accurately the
Jewish situation.
This picture was black. It was terrible, but it was true. Regarding
it to-day, we must confess it to be prophetic. And it was not unfolded
for the purpose of lamentation or protest, but with the object of
impelling to strenuous action and self-help. The Congress formulated
its intentions in the following programme, which was carried
unanimously with the greatest enthusiasm:
The aim of Zionism is to create for the Jewish people a home in
Palestine secured by public law. The Congress contemplates the
following means to the attainment of this end:――
1. The promotion, on suitable lines, of the colonization of Palestine
by Jewish agricultural and industrial workers.
2. The organization and binding together of the whole of Jewry by
means of appropriate institutions, local and international, in
accordance with the laws of each country.
3. The strengthening and fostering of Jewish national sentiment and
consciousness.
4. Preparatory steps towards obtaining Government consent, where
necessary, to the attainment of the aim of Zionism.
Illustration:
_Dr._ LOUIS LOEWE _Rabbi_ _Dr._ N. M. ADLER
_Baron_ M. _de_ HIRSCH
_Prof. Dr._ HERMANN SCHAPIRA MOSES HESS
Dr. Theodor Herzl was elected President of the Congress and Dr.
Max Nordau, Dr. Salz and M. Samuel Pineles first, second and third
Vice-Presidents respectively. The Executive Central Committee elected
by the First Congress consisted of:――
_Vienna_: Dr. Theodor Herzl, Dr. Schnirer, Dr. Oser Kokesch, Dr. Müntz,
Julius M. Kremenezky. _Austria_ (other than Galicia): Dr. Sigmund
Kornfield. _Galicia_: Dr. Salz, Dr. Korkis. _Bukovina_: Dr. Meyer
Ebner. _France_: M. Bernard Lazare. _Germany_: _Rabbi_ Dr. Isaac J.
Rülf, Dr. Bodenheimer. _Russia_: _Rabbi_ Samuel Mohilewer, Prof. Max
Mandelstamm, Dr. Jacob Kohan-Bernstein, Isidor Jasinowski. _Roumania_:
Dr. Karl Lippe, Samuel Pineles. _Bulgaria and Servia_: Prof. Gregor
Belkovsky. _Orient_: Jacques Behar.
One of the most prominent members of the First Congress was Dr.
Hermann Schapira (1840‒1898), Professor of Mathematics at the
University of Heidelberg. He was a native of Russia, and had a most
remarkable career. Being too poor to study, he turned to trade, and
when he had saved sufficient money became a student once more. He was
then already forty years of age, but his keen intellect and industry
soon brought him to the forefront in mathematics, which he had studied
privately without the help of a school or a teacher. He first learned
his science from old _Hebrew_ books, and then from books written
in other languages. So much was his pre-eminence recognized that,
notwithstanding his being a Jew and a foreigner――a Russian subject――he
was appointed to the Professorship of Mathematics at Heidelberg
University. He remained in appearance, in manners and in mentality as
typical and picturesque a member of his people as any old _Rabbi_. He
was an excellent _Hebrew_ scholar, and well versed not only in ancient
Jewish history and literature, but also in modern _Hebrew_ literature.
Like the whole modern _Hebraist_ school, he regarded _Hebrew_ as
a living tongue. His heart and soul were in the “Lovers of _Zion_”
movement and in the _Hebrew_ revival. At the first Zionist Congress he
solemnly called upon the delegates to declare allegiance to the cause.
When differences of opinion arose, the old Professor in impassioned
language appealed to all to sink their differences and personal
prejudices and to work unitedly with one heart and soul for the common
cause. A dramatic scene followed. The Professor called upon every
delegate present to raise his right hand, and they all did so and
repeated after him:――
“אם־אשכחך ירושלם תשכח ימיני׃”¹
¹ “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her cunning”
(Psalm cxxxvii. 5).
This was one of the most solemn moments of the Congress. On the other
hand, when Professor Schapira first spoke about the necessity of
a Jewish National Fund, an idea which he had advocated some time
earlier in _Hebrew_ articles, the proposal was regarded as a chimera
rather than as a practical scheme. But he did not feel discouraged
by the opposition of the “practical people.” During the first year
of the Zionist organization, between the first and second Congresses,
he devoted himself entirely to Zionist work. He died on a Zionist
propaganda tour, during a stay at Cologne.
The first Christian clergyman to encourage Herzl was the Chaplain to
the British Embassy in Vienna, the Rev. Dr. W. H. Hechler, who is an
ardent student of the Bible and a Christian “Lover of _Zion_.” With
the full knowledge of his chief, the British Ambassador, he supported
the Zionist movement, and introduced Herzl to several of his Royal and
Imperial pupils and friends. He was the first English clergyman to go
to Russia and help the persecuted Jews on the spot: he visited at that
time Odessa, Mohilew, Kishinew and Balta. He visited the Holy Land
several times, and regularly attended the Zionist Congresses.
Among the most interesting visitors at the Congress were, the famous
pioneer of Zionism, Henri Dunant; and the Protestant pastor Dr.
Johannes Lepsius, son of Carl Richard Lepsius (1810‒1884), the famous
Egyptologist, who is thoroughly acquainted with the East, and had
been pastor of a small community in the Harz Mountains. Dr. Lepsius
warmly espoused the cause of the Armenians in 1895, and when, as the
result of his agitation, the German Government sent him a warning,
he resigned his post. He placed his views on the Zionist Congress
before a meeting held on the 7th September, 1897, at Basle, in a paper
entitled, “Armenians and Jews in Exile; or, the Future of the East
with Reference to the Armenian Question and the Zionist Movement.”
After referring to points of similarity between Jews and Armenians,
both persecuted races, he said: “When the time comes ... will Jewry
lay their hands on Palestine and say: this is our land? Will anyone be
able to prevent them? Even if the Zionist movement has an exclusively
national character, there is yet a strong religious undercurrent.
We believe that the Jewish nation has a future before it, and that
this future will be a glorious one.” The address was followed by
an interesting discussion, in the course of which Professor Carl
Friedrich Heman, the Orientalist, of Basle University, heartily
endorsed Dr. Lepsius’ views.
The greatest achievement of the new Zionism was the Jewish
Congress――the supreme authority in the movement based upon democratic
principles――and the creation of a world-wide organization for the
resuscitation of the Jewish nationality and for the regaining of
Palestine, not by brute force or political adventure, and not by any
act against the government or the population of the country or any
other government or nation, but by force of conviction, enthusiasm,
devotion and self-sacrifice.
_M._ Zadoc Kahn (1839‒1905), Grand _Rabbin_ of France, addressed a
letter of congratulation to the first Zionist Congress. The Grand
_Rabbin_ wrote that he would not fail to follow with much interest
the deliberations of the Congress. Whatever might be thought as to the
utility and opportuneness of the Congress, it could not be denied that
it merited every attention. Differences of opinion were inevitable,
but he prayed with all his might that God might guide and inspire all
the leaders of the movement, and that the debates and the resolutions
which would be arrived at would be for the benefit of Judaism
throughout the world.
In an interview on the subject of the Zionist movement, which took
place immediately after the first Zionist Congress, _M._ Zadoc Kahn
spoke in the highest terms of Dr. Herzl.
“This man of faith is also a man of action. He is an apostle, but
an apostle who is doctor of political economy. I know he occupies a
distinguished place in the Austrian Press, and that he has excellent
relations in the highest political spheres. But he appears ready to
sacrifice all for the triumph of his ideas.” _M._ Zadoc Kahn then
criticized in very mild terms the exaggerated “pessimism” of Herzl’s
pamphlet, “The Jewish State,” and after dwelling on the religious
aspects of the question, he concluded:――
“The sympathy of the French Jews, now awakened, is assured to the
Zionists. To ridicule or condemn a project when this project carries
with it hope, and thus consolation, to thousands of co-religionists
who are molested in their quality as Jews, this the French Jews have
not the right to do.”
In opening the proceedings of the final day of the Congress, Herzl
announced that several letters and telegrams had been received. The
only one he would mention was that sent by the Rev. Dr. Moses Gaster,
_Haham_ of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in England, who wrote to
express his sympathy with the objects of the Congress.