addition of these parts; it is held together by bonds of union which make it a unity. The bond, unity, is, I admit, difficult to define, but we recognize it in various ways. We speak of it as the Jewish spirit, the Jewish consciousness. Feeble, it is to-day, but it is this bond which cements together the various parts, and in making a unity of them, endows them with qualities of its own, with duties and aspirations of its own. It is true that with the weakening of the religious tie one of the strong bonds was loosened. But he must indeed be blind who fails to recognize the latent unity based on common traditions and common hopes and aspirations. Pressure from without has not destroyed it, neither have internal struggles and dissensions sufficed to wholly rupture it. The very continuance of some kinship among those whom "the Lord has scattered upon the face of the earth," and whose "language was confounded that they understand not one another's speech," who do not even pray alike, who do not believe alike, is proof of its deep-seated and permanent character. A Jewish people still exists, though like a flag in tatters; for it is scattered everywhere and its condition is not one to be proud of. I wish it to be understood that when I speak of the lowly condition of Israel at the present day, I do not refer to the anti-Semitism of the West, or the persecution of the East. After all, these are external; I speak of the internal condition. In the East we see moral and religious stagnation—in the West an arrant materialism and a feverish desire to throw off all that is Jewish under the pretext of yielding to modern conditions. It is against both that Zionism protests.
Zionism deals with the Jewish people as a whole, and we must view the whole aside from its parts, for their interests are often at variance and may even be oppos-
ing. It is so with other nations. Permit an illustration. Our country passed through the horrors of the Civil War so that these United States should live. Tens of thousands of young men gave up their lives for the life of the Republic. It would have been in the interest of the individuals to have lived, it would have spared their families suffering and unhappiness—but following this interest would have resulted in the death of the Republic. Need I elaborate further to prove this. I think you will agree with me that the demands of the Jewish People will likewise require great sacrifice on the part of individual Jews.
Zionism is concerned with the present and the future of the Jewish People and its purpose is to arouse the latent hopes and aspirations and to adopt means to make their realization possible. For we believe that Israel was preserved for other purposes than to be the outcast and despised wanderer in the eyes of all the world or even to lose himself, to have his individuality melt away in the first beams of the sunshine of modern individual liberty. It was not Jacob who threw away his birthright for a mess of pottage!
In the past our efforts were all individualistic, we paid no.attention to the whole. We did not consider that the Jews, as a people, have the duties and the rights of a people. We had our faces always turned to our great and glorious past, but we saw neither the present nor the future.
Zionism has aroused us from our lethargy and has called to us as father to son, "Awake and do your duty. Your duty is to do your very best. Arise, take up the work which for ages has been neglected. Strive to become once more the noble Israel in whom the nations shall be blessed." Had our object been to escape persecution, we could much better