The Maccabaean

do something besides.. He either peddles or teaches Hebrew. No, he would give the money to the Tree Fund of the Jewish National Fund. He used to teach his boy Hebrew and relate to him stories about Palestine. Let there grow new fruit trees in the Herzl Forest in his memory. Are not the proceeds of these trees to go ultimately towards the maintenance of schools, where lovely little boys will receive Hebrew instruction ?

"No, in the beginning comes the idea!"

III.

On the 24th of this month, in connection with the Feast of the Maccabees, the third annual Zion Flag Day of the Jewish National Fund will take place.

In the beginning is aesthetics, said Hadassah, and opposed street collections. Like their namesake in the Book of Esther, they tell us: Go, assemble all the Jews. But the Jews would not assemble unless imbued with our idea. Is there anything more expressive of our hopes and ideals than the combination of Hanukah, Zion Flag and National Fund?

The over-secularized and dejudaized Jewish street is badly in need of some such redeeming touches. Demon-

strative devotion to a noble ideal is the proper antidote to naked mammonism. So were we commanded of old in order to counteract the ravages of idolatry, to proclaim the unity of God even when walking by the road, and to write it upon our doorsteps and upon our gates.

Regulation requires the Hanukah Lights to shine unto the street. Poor old Hanukah Lights! Their strength failed them in the age of electricity. It was sad enough to behold them brushed aside by the enticing light of modern civilization. It is infinitely sadder to perceive them dimmed by the electric business sign, now almost the only sign that remains of that enticing light. If we are to rekindle them, with the fire of our idea, let us make them shine unto the street.

Symbols become obsolete when the idea which they were to perpetuate loses its hold upon life. Only new action can revive the idea, readjust it to life and restore effectiveness to the symbol. So the National Fund, a revived and ennobled idea turned into deed, lends new meaning to Hanukah and the Zion Flag alike. It does more than that. It makes each donor a party to the idea.

In the beginning comes the idea—have we the idea?

Why is it that the National Fund has won so warm a place in our hearts? We regard with great interest all the institutions which the Zionist movement has brought into existence. We are proud of the Banks, of what they have accomplished, and we are pleased that we have invested moneys in them. In the Palestinian schools we see the instruments with which the new Jewish spirit will be forged and we are glad that through our aid we have part in them. The moneys given to Emergency Fund we look upon as a voluntary tax which we are ready to pay to conduct our great movement and keep it alive and active during a critical period. But the National Fund has become the object of sentiment, of fond affection. It is no tax, it is no unwilling surrender of what we feel we must give up! It is the glad thankoffering, which we consecrate to the great Jewish future, the sacrifice we bring on the altar of our National renaissance. On all

important occasions, at births, at marriages, and deaths, we find the opportunity for giving to the National Fund; it adds joy to our joys, it takes away some of the pain in our sorrows, for we think of the better times that are in store for our people. In our homes we are reminded by the unpretentious little "Box" that the Fund is ever ready to take our offerings, large or small. Every gift we make, every tree we plant, returns its reward in the consciousness that we are buying back the land that is dear to us, and restoring its ancient fertility.

Thus we can account for the fact that even in these days of trial and sorrow, when just appeals are made on every side, the National Fund retains its popularity. May it grow larger and larger in means and in power as the years roll on, and may it ever gain a higher place in our devotion, our interest and our affection!