A CALL FOR THE SHEKEL
Comrades:
We Zionists are bound to look ahead, and to see beyond the present crisis in Jewish life; to hold ever before us the beacon light of the Zionist centre for which we have been struggling for the past twenty years. Out of the chaos into which the predominant civilizations have been plunged, deliverance for us must come. We must be prepared for that day. Not only by giving of our substance to the needy in distress, not only by relieving the situation in Palestine, but by strengthening our Zionist organization, the agency of Jewish idealism, the unified force working for our deliverance. When that agency speaks, let it not speak in the name of a minority, but for a majority of the Jewish people. Only thus shall we be in a position to speak with conviction, and will our words be taken as the utterance of the Jewish people.
Therefore: Go out among our brethren and urge them to enroll in our organization. And to enroll how? By becoming shekel-payers. The shekel is the token of enlistment in our cause. We should have not a few thousand, but a few hundred thousand new recruits.
You, as an individual, can do much to help us in this work. If you are a Zionist, also become a missionary among those who are not yet Zionists.. Apply to us for shekel books, and, when you receive them, make it your business to ask every Jew you know:
"Are you a Jew?"
"If you are a Jew, you must be a Zionist!"
"If you are a Zionist, at least pay your Shekel."
Order your shekel-books at once. Do not delay, for the sooner our forces are organized, the easier becomes our task.. We need every national Jew in our ranks. Help us to enlarge our organization.