What is Zionism?

Julius T. Loeb, “What is Zionism?” Birmingham Age-Herald (Birmingham, AL), July 4, 1909. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038485/1909-07-04/ed-1/seq-12/ Part 2: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038485/1909-07-04/ed-1/seq-16/

WHAT IS ZIONISM?

BY JULIUS T. LOEB, Rabbi of Knesseth Israel Congregation

    What is Zionism?

    “Despise not any person; neither do thou disregard anything; for there is not a man who hath not his time, nor is there a thing that hath not its place. (Ethics of the Fathers IV, 3.)

    It must be somewhat of a pleasing satisfaction for a suffering humanity to note that the scoffer, the skeptic, or disconsolate critic, is not always taken so seriously, and things [c]ome into being despite the failure of many of preconceive the realization of any plausible scheme or ideal, and history records its pages without regard to the likes or dislikes, figurings [sic] or findings of those individuals who set too much of a high value on their own wisdom, and in their haughty pride are so apt to scrutinize the efforts of others, to scorn all things in existence and despise “the humble ones of the earth” who have neither power nor wealth on their side, save only the God-sent intelligence wherewith they were endowed to work the destiny of man and strive for the accomplishment of every important object, in whose behalf the Talmud enjoins: “Be ye careful about the children of the poor, as from them will issue forth learning.”

    When the Decalogue, the noble Constitution of Sinai, first made its appearance amidst a benighted world, for the equalization of human right, as well as the enlightment [sic] of mind and reason, it was the class known as plebians—not the pompous patricans [sic] rioting in the present—that hastened to receive the new doctrines. In every struggle for liberty and right it is the proletarian element that came to the forefront and led in the fight. So in the spread of civilization, as in the revolutions of nations and the political and economic improvements of all states, the earliest risers to necessity were the poor. Little wonder, therefore, that what is known as political Zionism, the effort to create for the Jewish people a “publically-secured [sic] and legally-assured home in Palestine,” was conceived and born in the bosom of those known as “children of the Ghetto,” the poorest among the victims of persecution. For a long time theirs was indeed a struggle against odds, and they met with bitter opposition on all sides; and they were made a target to the slings of the jester, the arrows of the arrogant, and the taunts of the incredulous. Yet they forged ahead with indefatigable energy, retraced not their steps, cowered before no difficulty or mischance, cowered before [sic] that the time has come and the opportunity is rife for the ever-martyred race to cease in matyrdom. [sic] Few as they were in numbers at the beginning they now have gathered in the best forces in Jewry, and as Zangwill puts it, “all intelligent Jews of the world have decided that a Jewish state must and shall be.”

    “Nothing that is necessary is impossible,” said William Jennings Bryan in his address before the governors’ conference at the White House last winter, and this truth is demonstrated by the transpiring events of every-day life. The seemingly insurmountable barriers that present themselves at our first attempt to bring about a certain end will eventually dwindle down to a minimum, and every difficulty will disappear in the sight of patient labor and earnestness of purpose. Moreover, the realization of a certain plan or deal will sometimes come to us even sooner than we had anticipated it, and we are often made to gaze in wonderment as to how this thing or that has sprung into being, while everything around us pronounced it an impossibility. 

    Everybody today knows of Wilbur and Orville Wright of ‘heavier than air flying machine” fame; but how many knew, how many did care to know, about the pitiful plight and meager resources of the two poor hard-working brothers some few months back on their leaving the American shores for the old world in an attempt to find a pathway for their wonderful invention? If the scoffer had his way, what chance would there be for the brothers Wright to attain their aim and come to public view, excepting for the cheap jests and gibes that were heaped on them by the worldly-wise, with that air of supreme indifferentism which is accorded to nearly all the benefactors of the human race in all history?

    If the scoffer had his way “Fulton’s Folly” would not now be the center of public interest, and no preparations were to be made for the celebration of its one hundredth anniversary in New York City. And “what hath God wrought” would not have been the message flashed by the wire in 1844; nor would Marconi be enabled to produce the great marvel of communication by the intangible. Hitherto regarded a “scientific impossibility;” nor would anything worth while have ever met with the desired success. All human advancement, idealism and perfection would necessarily cease—if the scoffer had his way.

    Happily the more earnest and honest labors of the stronger minds are destined to rule, and what once might have been styled a “delusive dream” is today taking solid shape and entering the world’s scene as a perfectly natural manifestation.

    So the much-ridiculed and misunderstood idea of a Jewish state is now silently and imperceptibly, yet none the less surely passing into reality. The Zionist movement is now become a world-wide movement, and is gaining ground with every succeeding day. There is practically no class among Jews in any part of the globe today but which is identified with the cause of Zionism. So there is no section or sphere amidst civilized mankind but where there can be found staunch friends and sympathizers who feel with Robert N. Casson that they “would like to see the long tragedy of Jewish history have a happy ending before the curtain falls.”

    A time there was when the so-called aristocratic Jews of the “reform school” had kept aloof, and would not permit their names to be connected with a movement which according to some crude notion of the uninformed might cast a shadow of suspicion upon the patriotic nature of the Jew in lands of liberty where he enjoys his civil and political rights in fullest measure. But this misconception is gradually wearing off, which the people as a whole are coming to a realization of the question at issue, and they no longer hesitate to join the Zionist ranks. Since it was proven sufficiently that Zionism does not propose to create a wholesale and forceful emigration from all parts of the world; since it was made clear to all that no disloyalty to country is suggested in the agitation, which aims solely and entirely to provide a home and country for those millions of unfortunate Jews who are mere slaves in the lands of their oppression, since then the classes as well as the masses are gradually failing into line, forming one united Israel, and aiding in the one grand effort for the only peaceful solution of the Jewish problem. 

    That Zionism suggests disloyalty to state is undoubtedly the most scurrilous absurdity. We all know to what extent the Irishmen in this country have agitated, and do agitate, the movement for Irish home-rule in the Emerald Island; yet the patriotism of the sturdy sons of Erin is never question. There is no one fool enough to accuse the Irish of disloyalty to the American flag. Why then should such prejudice be entertained by the Jews toward the Zionist movement, which, as everybody is aware of, does not intend to create a menancing [sic] power for the world but rather a peaceful home for a peaceful people; to the injury of none, and for the benefit of all nations and creeds who may be directly or indirectly involved in the Jewish question. 

    It will be remembered also that the Germans had at one time made strong efforts to collect funds and enlist the aid and co-operation of compatriots in this country on behalf of their nativity abroad, and yet it is an assumed fact that the German-Americans here are all right. 

    Very characteristic was the remark of Herr Emil Lesser when in the course of his address before the Zionist meeting held last Sunday at the Knesseth Israel Synagogue he said that he was “a German by birth, A Hebrew by faith, and an American by adoption.” That was well spoken, and he surely voiced the sentiment of all good citizens when he added: “I feel that I am sincere in my loyalty to the stars and stripes and my devotion to this country’s cause as any man living. But the very spirit of Americanism it is that prompts me to be a Zionist; to aid in the liberation of an-ever martyred race and the removal of an endless source of trouble with the whole world.”

    The fact of the matter is that the Zionist is necessarily the best patriot of his adopted home; the heart which is broad enough to entertain love for family and kindred race, is naturally broad enough to comprise loyalty and love for the land one’s sojourning. There are none more ready than the Zionist in this country to defend the American flag and cherish the American principles of liberty and right. Zionists were quickest to respond to the call of this country in its conflict with Spain. The Zionist regiment formed in Great Britian carried off the highest honors and commendations from military officials on its return from the English-Boer war. The well known Col. A. E. W. Goldsmid was a leader in the Zionist ranks. Sir Moses Montefiore, unquestionably the best Jew of the 19th century, and the most peculiarly loyal subject of the British queen, he too, was a Zionist; for he also sought to establish a Jewish state in the land of Israel. In this manner also Mordecai Noah, that famous American patriot, suggested a similar plan, even though in a more visionary form.

    If it were useless to enlarge on this subject, since even as great and good a statesman as the late Secretary John Hay had officially disproven the accusation; while Ex-secretary Root had expressed himself to be in perfect sympathy with the Zionist movement, and Hon. Richard Barthold, member of Congress and President Interparlimentary [sic] Peace Conference had himself suggested to present the matter to the Hague Peace Conference. (Happily such a course is today no longer necessary in view of the newer developments in Turkey.)

    It was quite a pleasing surprise for Zionists on May 10th of last year to learn that a Verein of aristocratic Zionists was organized in New York City, with Mr. Samuel Straus, proprietor and editor of the New York Globe, at the head. Among the members of that Verein are Mr. Louis Marshall, Mr. Daniel Guggenheim, the American silver king, and others of American’s wealthiest and most influential Jews. The renowned philanthropist Jacob H. Schiff is unofficially represented in this same society. Judge Sulzberger, of Philadelphia, and Ex-secretary Oscar Straus, present ambassador to Turkey, are likewise identified with the movement. Mr. Straus recently went to London for the purpose of effecting a reconciliation between the two great factions in Zionism, the one known as Zion Zionists, who insist upon the acquisition of Palestine proper; the other—the Territoralist [sic] Zionists, headed by Zangwill and the Jewish Colonization Association, who until recently had sought for a Jewish colony in various ways and distant lands, but by reason of the later developments in Turkey fell upon the scheme of settling Jews in Mesopotamia; a territory which is identified with the earliest history of the Jewish people, and is also incorporated in the “Basel programme” as part of the Zion territory.

    Now if a man like Mr. Oscar Straus, who was justly styled “the practical man of a business country,” if he ses [sic] the fitness and feasibility of the Zionist scheme there is really no reason why anyone else should pretend to be more “practical” and more “matter of fact.”

    The world today is filled with the accomplishment of what might ordinarily be termed the impossible. Things have come into being, which both science and the view of the practical man had branded “impossibility: and nationalities, old and new, have been aided to rise to self-dependence and dignity, why not help the most ancient of peoples to a resting place in its ancient land? Why not grant the possibility, and aid in the establishment of a Jewish state?

    “If you will—it is not a dream,” said the late Dr. Thedore Herzel, [sic] the noble architect of Zion’s practical restoration. And he pointed to Zionism as the forerunner of a world-wide peace. In his “oldnewland” Dr. Herzel [sic] laid out practical plans for the conduct of the ideal commonwealth, which the Jewish people, as a people that is free from all political complications and untrammeled by monopolies, might well form and set up to all the civilized nations of the earth. 

    But here again the critic may cry out: “too Uptopian;” [sic] yet we must not forget that “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” is really the design upon which the subterranean boat invention of today is modeled, and that the many things in existence at this age of discovery are the products of mater minds first presented in just such form as the “oldnewland.” Let us know that the world after all is moving forward—moving not only in its physical system, but its moral development as well. Sentiment is after all the governing power of the community; and thus the sense of justice exhibited in public opinion will lead mankind to still loftier heights of development, broader idealism and nobler conception of life’s duties. So the dream of a Herzel, [sic] or a Bellami and such, may yet call into being the materialization of that old vision of Israel’s inspired prophets, Isaih [sic] and Michah, pointing to the time when “they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning forks; nation shall lift no sword against nation, and they shall learn of war no more.”

    As a most laudable addition to the wonderful inventions of the present age it came to the lot of the Holy Land to bring before the eyes of the world an entirely new system of revolution; a departure from the old ways of bloody design and terroism, [sic] hitherto looked upon as the only meanis [sic] of securing free government, and the introduction, in their stead, of a particular line of public education—a cultivation of the people and the army to a correct appreciation of the principles of universal liberty and of Israel’s inspired prophets, Isaiah and right. Al lof [sic] which was so nobly effected by the moral force and idealism of the Young Turk organization; as Charles Beckton, an English gentleman, points out in his newly published work entitled, “Turkey in Revolution.”

    Union, peace and progress in the Holy Land means the opening of a new era of peace and prosperity for the whole of civilization. Who can fathom the grand possibilities for the future of the promised land, which is truly designed to become not only a center of industries, but also a center of the world’s interests. As this land was the cradle of all human civilization, so it is destined to become also the model and pattern of free government, of equal right and peaceful endeavor, forming the crowning point of man’s idealism and perfection. “For out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the world of the Lord out of Jerusalem.