The Jewish Herald (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 38, Ed. 1, Thursday, June 17, 1909 Page: 4 of 11
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VW iW r
flictions and in this case had Herzl
accomplished the task that he under
took the Jews would not have been
ready to have assumed the untimely
responsibility thrust upon them
From then the movement began to
grow slowly but steadily and with
its growth naturally sprang opposi-
tion Opposition prompted by petty
private causes in some instances op-
position for a revenue only and op-
position of grave character Keenly
wore felt these stabs on every side
but they were mere stumbling blocks
in the path easily removed in due
course It was the wounds caused
from lack of interest shown by men
of minds whose pangs went deepest
for sharp indeed are the pangs caused
by any symptoms of indifference from
such men as for instance the reformed
rabbis of the day But what artist
ever painted his picture without its
lights and its shadows What work
of God can one point out without its
lights and its shadows its pains and
its pleasures To me the movement
meant much from the very beginning
and I had no kith or kin except the
common brotherhood of man not even
an acquaintance in the lands of op-
pression However it is amusing now
to look back upon the situation and
recall how suddenly the dark storm
clouds bursted to admit of the bright
warm and cheerful rays of the sun
when the proper time arrived How
those in favor of and those opposed
to the movement went hand in hand
their eyes beaming with light and
their hearts filled with gratitude into
the work of making of Palestine the
nation among nations
How my thoughts wander Close
on to the beginning of the year 1909
the entire world was startled with the
glad tidings that Turkey is under a-
new regime that the Sultan for life
a prisoner within the walls of his
palace had dared to venture forth
and show himself to his people The
Young Turk received the ruling
reigns of the government from the
Sultans hands and transformed a
country of the most absolute despot-
ism to one of the freest countries in
the world
Turkey for centuries had been heav-
ily involved her debt had become a
burden too heavy for her to bear
Here is where the Zionists stopped
and gasped for breath Palestine be-
longed to the Turks the Turks needed
money their securities were exhaust-
ed the Jews wanted the land the
Jews had the money the decisive mo-
ment had come
Colonies of Jews were from the out-
set of the movement established in
the Holy Land and in 1909 there were
more than thirty colonies established
there and exceeding one hundred
thousand Jews on the spot Every
sixth man was a Jew and the hundred
thousand already there acted as ad-
vance guard to the hundreds of thou-
sands who followed Then men of
minds and men of means knocked
their heads together and the situation
was grasped
Very cautiously and silently did the
leaders work but zealously New
societies were formed in every conceiv-
able corner of the globe membership
of older eocieties doubled In Russia
and Roumania and some of the other
countries th6 activities were veiled
from the eyes of men but in America
THE JEWISH HERALD
England Germany Austria Hungarla
were the movements openly conduct-
ed and the earnestness and zeal dis-
played on the part of those fortunate
Jews who lived in the lands of free
dom bent on bringing relief and com-
fort to their own downtrodden breth-
ren brought forth the most favorable
commendation and sympathy from the
nonJews for they began to see that
the Jews were protecting their own
and fighting their own cause as did
their fathers in ancient times Relief
in the way of tangible assets came
pouding in on every side Colony af-
ter colony planted on the soil no ef-
fort was made on the part of the Jews
to buy the whole of the country only
tract after tract was bought by differ-
ent individuals
Continued next week
Zionists Celebrate
On Sunday and Monday nights the
hall of the Jewish Literary Society
was comfortably full of people who
assembled to celebrate the first anni-
versary of the Sohs and Daughters of
Zion
Rabbi Willner was chairman on
both occasions and displayed rare elo-
quence in introducing the participants
The first evening opened with the
Hatikawh Rev H B Lieberman
leading This wasjollowed by a selec
tion in Yiddish by Mr I Schaffer of
Richmond Texas and judging from
the applause was greatly appreciated
Rev Dr Mosessohn of the Jewish
Tribune Portland Ore was the chief
speaker of this evening and took far
his subject Mesopotamia He gave
an interesting outline of this country
and its value to the Zionists His de
livery on this occasion was much su-
perior to either of the occasions we
heard him previously
Owing to the inclement weather of
Sunday night the celebration was giv-
en in two installments On Monday
night as is usual among the Zionists
the evenings entertainment opened
with the Hatikwah
Mr L A Freed of San Antonio was
presented by the chairman He con-
gratulated the members of the society
on their work and urged them to
preserve harmony and good will in
their ranks in order to more efficiently
do their work He stated that as a
result of the organization of the so-
ciety in Houston other societies had
been organized at Corsicana and San
Antonio and he predicted that before
the meeting of the next convention
the number would be doubled
After Mr Freed Rev H B Lieber
man of Houston delivered an address
in Hebrew on The Place of Israel
Among the Nations He declared that
the Jewish hope for the future was
the restoration of Zion
The fulfillment of it we have been
promised by the Almighty through his
prophets Zionism is only a factor in
bringing this promise to fulfillment It
preaches brotherly love and a united
Judiasm It absolutely does not inter-
fere with the loyalty of the Jewish
Six Goldberg ARR
people to the countries where they
now live
Zionism is distinguished from oth-
er National Jewish movements by
claiming that Zion only is to be the
Jewish home and not any other terri-
tory which our alleged territorialist
iS qnrv
brethren are working for Only upon
Zion has the Jew a moral right to
claim the promised land
The chief speaker of the evening
was Jona3 Rosenfield of Dallas H1b
address was an explanation and expo-
sition of the aim3 of the Zionistic
movement The speaker said that the
aduience was too large to demand
an atology for the rally In the first
place the movement was not an eco-
nomic proposition He said that the
nonZionists held three views of the
aims of the Zionists that were falla-
cies
The first fallacy is that the Jews
are a nation Mr Rosenfield was em-
phatic in his denial that they are now
a nation but the Zionists hold that
they are a people with common char-
acteristics and common ancestry
They are more than a religious sect
and their logical destiny is to become
a nation
The second fallacy spread abroad is
that all Jews are expected to return
to Palestine This view he said is
entirely erroneous and those who do
return must go voluntarily It is not
a matter of compulsion but one of
privilege
The third fallacy promulgated by
the nonZionists that no Zionist can
be loyal to the country in which he
is residing the speaker declared was
evident and hequoted instances where
Americans of foreign descent had even
returned to Europe to fight for their
fatherland and no one doubted their
loyalty to their country
In speaking of the aim of the Zion-
ists he said it was their great desire
to make a nation of the now scattered
people Instead of using his talents in
the work of construction the Jew has
had to expend his energy in the strug-
gle for existence and that he now ex-
pends 100 times as much force in this
struggle as the nonJew
In concluding his address Mr Ros
enfield exhorted the people of the
Jewish race to dwell harmoniously
together and to let no petty difference
get in the way of the great principle
of Zionism and the making of the Jews
into a nation For whatever the Jew
intensely desires that he achieves
and when the Jew intensely desires to
restore his state in Palestine he will
do it
During the progress of his speech
Mr Rosenfield became faint and had
to retire from the platform for a
few minutes during which time H J
Dannenbaum addressed the audience
in a humorous strain Mr Rosenfield
was revived in a short time and re-
sumed speaking His expression and
delivery are excellent and considering
that he is an extremely young man
we expect to hear of him in a great
capacity some day
TEXAS
GALVESTON
Mr S Nathan and wife of San
Francisco are paying a visit to our
city
Mr Maurice Cohn of New York
City is here on business
Mr Sid Asher of Houston spent the
past week In our city
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Goldberg, E. The Jewish Herald (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 38, Ed. 1, Thursday, June 17, 1909, newspaper, June 17, 1909; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth84773/m1/4/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .