Jews -- Periodicals; Jews -- United States -- Periodicals
Beside the political Zionists, a large group can be distinguished as
Opportunist Zionists, the chief representative of whom is Israel
Zangwill,[11] who in his eagerness to relieve the Jewish _problem_ has
become impatient with the slow and seemingly fruitless political
progress, and who desires to lead his people to any vacant, habitable
territory rather than wait for a charter in Zion. Other leaders in the
movement, such as Ussischkin, contend that until the charter is
granted, colonization in Palestine should continue, both to satisfy
the Jewish demand for emigration and to give weight to the justice and
necessity for autonomy.
In sum, the establishing of Zion, while in process, will rescue the
sorely oppressed, magnetize and concentrate the interests of Jewry at
large, and force the issue of suicide or salvation upon the race; and
the establishment of the State, once accomplished, will rejuvenate a
people. "They shall revive as the grain and blossom as the vine; the
scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." (Hosea 14.7). In the
Zionist vision, assured not by the prophecies, but by the achievements
of a glorious past, this new wine, ripening and enriching its flavor
in a cup that had long been bitter, will be partaken of by the
nations, Jew and Gentile. Jewish culture in its widest sense,
embracing the realization of ethical, social, and artistic ideals,
nourished by a people living again a homogeneous, autonomous, national
life free as it has not been for eighteen centuries from outward
pressure--a life imperative for the production of culture--will go
forth as a pure vintage, taking its place with the vintages of other
nations, to satisfy the soul in dry places and make strong the bones;
and over this new wine a new Kiddush may perhaps be spoken. The Reform
Jew, the "assimilated" Jew, who finds himself to-day in what we have
nominated a _position_, in a conscious or unconscious inspiration and
pride induced by the resurrection of a motherland, as the German in
America is inspired by his national unity in Europe, will indeed find
his soul satisfied in dry places, and can more generously and
effectively contribute to the welfare of the fatherland of which he is
a citizen. The Jew who walks in the darkness of a Russia, where his
situation is a _problem_ and where existence itself is threatened,
will discover in this reawakened motherland a hope and possibly a
material aid which will make strong his bones that he may endure until
emancipation.
_The Communistic Aims of the Social Zionists_
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account