THE MACCABAEAN
Zionist organization the organization of the entire American Jewry, expressing not only the hope of the Old Guard, but also of the thousands of new friends, who have recently been stimulated to a genuine interest in the realization of the Zionist program. This Restoration Campaign should not be perfunctory, but into it all the zeal and self-sacrifice of every individual Zionist should be poured. Not a Jew should be allowed to pass unchallenged and unappealed to. Not a man or woman who holds the faith should go unregistered on our Restoration Enrollment Book. The political significance of such a nation-wide registration, its bearing upon the American Jewish Congress, should impress every loyal Zionist.
TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ZIONIST CONGRESS
A GREAT deal of water has passed down the stream since the holding of the First Zionist Congress. The Jewish world is not what it used to be. What changes have taken place, the new thought that has come to Jewish life, new conceptions of action, these may be attributed in a large measure to the forces brought to life by the Zionist Congress, the organ of the Zionist movement, the forum where for the first time in Jewish history since the dispersion the voice of Jews was heard clearly expressing in parliamentary forms and with appreciation of the need for action the age-long yearning and hope of the Jewish people. If to-day there is conversation and assurances of the seriousness of the Zionist program as the keynote of action, it is due to the Zionist Congress, and the institutions the Congress created. It is therefore fitting that the occasion of the twentieth anniversary should be utilized to drive home the lesson of Jewish self-emancipation, of a dignified and self-respecting Jewish policy, and of the significance and importance of the Zionist organization. The Provisional Zionist Committee and the Federation of American Zionists announce the nation-wide celebration, and call upon all organized Zionists to take the action necessary fittingly to commemorate the event. The anniversary should be used to secure contributions to the Zionist Emergency Fund, and all efforts should be bent, in addition, to the enrollment of new members, the enlargement of the Zionist camp.
NEED FOR ZIONIST LITERATURE
THE letters of Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen in the American Jewish press reveal in a disconcerting manner a curious state of ignorance of Zionist ideals and thought. Dr. Cohen has been a Zionist for a number of years. He used to deliver Zionist speeches and attend Zionist conventions. What use has it all been to him? He does not know what Zionism means. He misinterprets our views on nationality, and charges us with abandoning the Zionist principles to which he is still loyal. He is opposed to our policy in the Congress movement, although there we applied only such principles as were involved in the Zionist propaganda of the past ten years. This is a reflection upon our organization and our propaganda. We have not done our work well. Men like Dr. Cohen, who has been rubbing elbows with Zionists for years, should not have been untouched by the knowledge which is contained in Zionist books and pamphlets and reports. If Dr. Cohen, a man used to orderly study, does not understand, what must be the state of men of lesser intellectual capacity? This should stimulate the publication of more Zionist litera-
ture. We should not leave to accidental refutations of letters accidentally written to the press the proper elucidation of Zionist principles and tendencies. The more knowledge our Zionists have, the more active they are liable to become in Zionist work.
THE LATE SAMUEL MARGOLIS
ABBI SAMUEL MARGOLIS, of Cleveland, R whose death occurred this month as a result of an automobile accident, was among the first young men to enlist in the Zionist cause, and ever since his youthful days in Boston, he has been an active spirit in the Zionist movement, eager to work and to ‘achieve, and always to be depended upon in any emergency. In Cleveland, where he served as rabbi for many years, he built up a large personal following, which was loyal to him both as rabbi and as Zionist leader. It is characteristic of his influence that within ten days after his death, one of the best Zionists in Cleveland took it upon herself to tour the state of Ohio to collect contributions to the Olive Tree Fund with which to dedicate in Margolis’s name several thousands of trees in the Herzl Forest. At the same time, other Zionists have started a movement for an enlarged Talmud Torah to bear his name and to be established in Cleveland. Samuel Margolis made loyal friends, for he was loyal to all his friends, and loyal to every cause in which he interested himself. Although trained in rabbinical lore, the son of one of the most esteemed orthodox rabbis in this country, he had in him a touch of the secular, which made him open to all sorts of appeals and interests, not directly related to his rabbinical office. Our sympathy goes out to his respected father and to his widow and orphaned children and to the Zionists of Ohio, who will not so easily replace him.
THE NINTH OF AB
THE Fast of Ab stands for patience and persistence. For centuries we have mourned the loss of Jerusalem; the days may have been bright; the days may have been propitious; but always on the Ninth of Ab we remember the day when, the Temples were destroyed, and recall the greatness of the past, and the comparative poverty of the present. The world wonders at this age-long spell of mourning. It cannot understand a people that for generations has stood at the Wailing Wall, repeated the ancient prayers and ejaculated the ancient hope, and yet never attempted to regain that which had been lost and which was being mourned. The Day had not arrived. They were nursing their strength, or waiting for their weakness to be transformed into strength; and their faith was so strong that they could afford to wait. Their patience was endless. And so to-day, the same prayers are being repeated, and the same hope is being nurtured. But with what a difference! The traditions of the Ninth of Ab, imbedded in forms and ceremonies, the spirit itself captive, are slowly being transformed. They seem to be the same—the mourning at synagogue and cemetery—the prayers and the lamentation—but even in the deepest recesses of orthodoxy, the tears are modified by a real hope, a real expectation. The melting of the Ninth of Ab into a holyday of actual hope is caused by the spirit that emanates from Palestine. Every colony established there dries a tear; every school maintained eases the lamentation; every whisper of assurance that arises out of the great world-war brings joy even on the day of mourning. And on this Ninth of Ab, while we lament and grieve over the troubles of Israel: the deaths by the