History of Zionism, 1600-1918, Vol. 2 (of 2)Sokolow, Nahum
History
History of Zionism, 1600-1918, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Sokolow, Nahum
Jews -- Restoration; Zionism -- History
We have already mentioned that Rabbi Mohilewer had sent his
congratulations to the Congress. The contents of Rabbi Mohilewer’s
expressions may be briefly noted as a supplement to Dr. Gaster’s letter.
Rabbi Mohilewer wrote that as the state of his health did not permit
him to travel, he sent the Congress his blessing in writing. Harmony
and concord should exist among all Zionists, even if their religious
views differed. The colonization of Palestine was recommended as a
religious duty――religion should therefore be a leading factor in the
Zionist movement. They should also bear in mind that it was a duty to
construct and not to demolish, and they should preserve the honour of
the rabbis, who were thoroughly patriotic as regarded the land in which
they lived. For the past two thousand years, the Jews had awaited the
advent of the Messiah, who would take them back to the land of their
fathers. But in our country men had risen who had abandoned this hope
and had eliminated it from the Prayer Book. Several of the rabbis in
Western Europe had declared against the Zionist movement, and one of
them had gone so far as to assert that the movement was contrary to
the biblical prophecies, as the Messiah was only to be symbolized and
the Jews were to remain in exile. He declared this to be wholly untrue.
Their faith was that God would send a Redeemer to bring back the People
to their own land, and that the Jewish people would, once again, be
honoured among the nations. Zionism does not interfere with this deep
belief; it is rather in harmony with it, and it prepares the way.
These two letters were a sort of _profession de foi_ on the part of two
rabbis representing different sections of traditional Jewry in England
and Russia respectively.
The Second Zionist Congress at Basle, 1898, was attended much more
numerously than the first one. There were over four hundred delegates,
and the English Zionists had sent a larger contingent (the Haham, Dr.
M. Gaster, had a Roumanian mandate; Jacob de Haas, Leopold J. Greenberg,
E. W. Rabbinowicz, B. Ritter, A. Snowman, S. Claff, J. Massel, Dr.
Moses Umanski, Herbert Bentwich and others). The presence of Dr.
Gaster, who was one of the most energetic spirits of the Congress, was
a great gain to the Movement. The English delegates adopted thoroughly
English methods. They were not seen standing about in groups and knots
in the passages and ante-rooms delivering impassioned speeches. The
oratorical contributions of the English delegates were few, and none
of them, except Dr. Gaster’s powerful address towards the close of the
proceedings, took up more than a few minutes. But the English delegates
worked hard in Committee and at special conferences.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account