Sejarah Zionisme, 1600-1918/Volume 1/Bab 36

CHAPTER XXXVI.

APPEALS FOR COLONIZATION

A Rabbinical appeal—Rabbi Elias Gutmacher—Rabbi Hirsch Kalischer—Correspondence with Sir Moses Montefiore—Servian Jews ready for Palestine—Rabbi Sneersohn—Another appeal of Henri Dunant—A committee in Paris under the patronage of the Empress of the French—Zionism in French fiction.

In 1867 an appeal in favour of the colonization of Palestine was addressed to English Jews by two well-known Rabbis, Elias Gutmacher (1796‒1874) of Grätz, and Zebi Hirsch Kalischer (1795‒1874) of Thorn. This appeal contains interesting references to a letter of Sir Moses Montefiore dealing with the same subject, to Servian Jews who were ready to go to Palestine, and to the activity of the “Alliance Israélite Universelle” in Paris in the same direction (Appendix lxix). Conceived in an orthodox Jewish spirit, it seems to have produced a favourable impression on some portions of the Jewish population in England; but it elicited few contributions. This is evidenced in another letter addressed to England by Rabbi Sneersohn of Jerusalem in 1866 (Ab. 8, 5626). “And now, my brethren in England, it is for you to be among the foremost in accomplishing the divine will. Hasten to buy fields and vineyards on the Holy Ground without looking for any immediate advantage. Do you not see that all nations around lay out large sums in buying up land here? Why should we not follow this good example, when thereby great benefits would be conferred on our brethren here: for they would till the ground and thereby maintain themselves, and no longer depend upon charity from abroad? By this means also would hatred and sorrow be removed from their midst, for being engaged in their work they would have no time for prying into the affairs of others. The time is most favourable for such an undertaking. About eighty heads of families, both Sephardim and Ashkenazim, lately bought fields along the road to Jaffa, and some of them have commenced to till the ground. Who knows how soon the ground will be worth double the price for which it can now be had? There is now a large and most eligible piece of ground at a very reasonable price to be had, etc....”

At the same time Dunant continued his propaganda, and addressed the following letter from Paris to the Jewish press in England:—

Jewish Chronicle, Dec. 13, 1867 (p. 6).

“Palestine Colonisation”

“To the Editor of the Jewish Chronicle.

“Sir,

“Permit me to recall to your mind the remembrance of me. At that time you were pleased to take a truly humane interest in the work in favour of wounded soldiers, of which I am the founder, for which I then laboured, and which still occupies my attention. You are no doubt aware that this work has been as successful as such a work of philanthropy can be. It has obtained the adhesion not only of all the Sovereigns of Europe, and even those of the Sultan of Turkey and Emperor of Brazil (1831‒1891),¹ but also the unanimous suffrage of all benevolent persons in all civilized countries.

“In the whole European and American Continents—both of them liable to the chances of war—committees and societies for the relief of wounded soldiers have been formed, and are in activity, and it may be said, without exaggeration, that the service rendered by this institution during the late war surpassed all expectation. Official reports from this society, as well as from military authorities published more than once, have sufficiently shown it. At present, sir, I am engaged in another work, for which I hope you will not feel less interest than for that to which I have just referred, the more so as it concerns Palestine, the country made over by God to the glorious people of which you have the honour of being a member.

“You will find enclosed two copies of a notice which a committee formed in Paris for the Colonisation of Palestine—a committee of which I am a member, and which Her Majesty the Empress of the French² has deigned to honour with her patronage—have just published. The notice will explain to you the object and tendency of our foundation. The labours of your whole life, and the great merits acquired by you in serving the cause, rights, and interests of your co-religionists, inspire me with the lively desire to obtain your valuable advice on the work on which we are engaged. I hope that if you find our publication conformable to your ideas, you will have the goodness to cause a translation thereof inserted in the estimable journal which you edit, the Jewish Chronicle.

“I also hope that you will likewise acquaint me with the names and addresses of persons in England, whom you may believe inclined to sympathise with the moral and economical re-constitution of the ancient patrimony of the Hebrews; for our work, supported by the greatest and most aristocratic names among Christians, sympathises not the less, nay, before all, with the Israelites, whose rights to Palestine are superior to all others.

“I do not doubt but that the international sentiments which animate you will call forth in old England, and among the readers of the Jewish Chronicle, a sympathetic echo.

“Receive the assurance of my high consideration.

“(Signed) Henri Dunant,

“Founder and promoter of the international undertaking in behalf of the wounded soldier, on land and at sea.

“Paris, 24, Rue de la Paix, Dec. 3, 1867.”

Evidently Dunant expected more from England and English Jews than from any other country in the world. The liberties and rights of citizenship of the Jews have been more respected, and their social and political standing made more secure in this country than in any other. Here, at all events, the days of Jewish persecution have long since passed away.

In France, where a favourable atmosphere for Jewish national aspirations had scarcely been created, M. Dunant’s scheme does not appear to have made much headway in a practical direction; but there is no doubt that his efforts were watched with sympathetic interest. We quote again M. L. Lévy-Bing, who advocated the Zionist idea in several articles from 1864 onwards.¹ In French fiction M. Alexandre Dumas (fils) (1824‒1895) had made one of the heroes of his play La Femme de Claude a Zionist character (Appendix lxx). Many more such quotations could be traced, but we mention this only as an example. Further, there was, at all events, the idea of Jewish brotherhood in the creation of the “Alliance Israélite Universelle”: as we pointed out above, the activities of the “Alliance” were directed chiefly to the East, where it found a vast sphere of labour. All this was consciously or unconsciously Zionist work.