The Maccabaean

[The following letter by Boris Kazmann, in reply to Mr. Schiff’s second letter, has created quite a deep impression upon Zionists as well as upon those who side with Mr. Schiff. Mr. Kazmann was born in Russia, received a good Hebrew and Russian education, and attended the Vienna University. He was a member of the Vienna Kadimah. He was one of the pioneer laborers in the colony of Rechoboth for one year, and then attended the Montpelier Univerity, from which he graduated as agricultural chemist and engineer. Hs is now an American citizen and has occupied, since his coming to the United States, positions as agricultural chemist in Colorado, at the Lyons (N. Y.) Sugar Refinery and is now engaged in the same work in Canada. It is said that he will return to Palestine within a few years to establish an agricultural chemical laboratorv.]

The second letter of Mr. Schiff, intended as a modification of his views on patriotism, contains an aggregation of reasons as to why one should be a Zionist. His points may be thus summarized:

I. Zionism does not express the desire of the Jewish race, nor does it represent Jewish orthodoxy.

Zionism aims to awaken the spirit of the Jewish race, to break away from all the repressive and disintegrating influences of the exile, the Ghetto and dispersion. Therefore, it is to be judged not merely by the number of its adherents, but by the spirit and the ideals it stands for. Zionism speaks for the future of the Jewish race, and it is an endeavor to rouse that race to the imperative need of throwing off all those influences that tend to mar its future. The slowness of the response on the part of the Jewish people is a manifestation of the difficulties Zionism has to overcome in its own milieu. It aims to unseat the habit of submission that has grown out of degradation of the Goluth, the spirit of the slave who had so completely effaced his own individuality and to be proud to say, "I love my master," and

willingly allowed his ears to be bored as a token of his everlasting bondage. Zionism seeks to lead the Jews to self-expression, and antagonism to it is a direct consequence of centuries of repression which has led them to lean on a vague Messianic hope, or a millennium, or a universal mission, rather than upon a concerted effort for self-emancipation. Zionism is the dynamic force in Jewish life; the opposition to it is composed of the static elements of the Diaspora.

To refute the point that Zionism does not represent orthodox Jewry, I refer to the following essays, where the orthodox authorities to the contrary may be found. The attention of Mr. Schiff is called to these in lieu of others of more ancient date, because they meet the issue he has raised in direct terms:

“Die Stimme der Warheit;” Dr. Askenazi, on two points, namely, “Is Zionism Sanctioned from the Religious Standpoint ?”” and “Is Zionism in Harmony with the Law of the State?” Dr. K. Lippe, “Zionism from the Standpoint of the Jewish Orthodoxy.” Dr. Richard Huldschiner, “Zion and Religion.” M. Stechel- macher, “Zionism from the Standpoint of Orthodoxy.” Dr. H. Seligson, “Religion and Zionism.” “Shivas Zion,” in Hebrew, by Abraham Jacob Slutzky; Warsaw, 1%0. “The Golden Mean,” in Hebrew, by Mordecai Elias berg; Warsaw, 1887. These authorities could be multiplied.

II. Political Zionism has nothing in common with the Messianic hope.

I£ the Messianic hope is embodied in tlıe idea of a ragged Savior rıding into Jerusalem on a white ass, Mr. Schiff is unquestionably correct. If, however, the Messianic hope is the hope for the redemption of the Jewish people and their final release from the bondage of the exile, and if we believe that this hope is ever to be realized, and the Jews are to be the active instruments of its realization, we submit that there is no other movement in Jewish life which has a better right to stand for the Messianic hope than the Zionist move