The Maccabaean

a social theory, which exercised during centuries on the whole of mankind a deep moral influence, without being put into practice even at the time of its creation. No wonder that in our modern days, when Socialism has become everywhere the keynote of all practical politics, the Zionist Convention proclaimed social democracy as the hacie af the Tawich ctate in a free Palectine

It was the strong and the weak point of Zionism that it never associated itself with any religious, mystical, Messianic aspirations and hopes. It wanted to be only a wordly political movement, neutral in matters religious, unconcerned with the ideal of the social millenium, benevolently indifferent to all the mysterious and momentous forces which stirred and stimulated the history of Israel, The prophets and philosophers of Zionism in the period which preceded the Zionist movement, Salvador, Graetz, Hess, combined with their Zionism the triumph of universal ideas, Jewish and human Messianism. But Zionism in the period of its movement and organization sought only political and national expression and claimed to be not more and not less than a Jewish repetition of the Albanian, Polish, Armenian, Bulgarian, Serbian, etc., national movements. Of course, there was a romantic and Socialistic undercurrent in Zionism, which found artistic expression in Herzl’s Altneuland, there was a Socialistic wing in the Zionist organization, represented by the Poale Zion. But these aberrations have been only tolerated by the Zionists as innocent licentiae poeticae, and as harmless, proletarian nuisances, which the Zionists would have liked to overcome in a patriarchal, conciliatory way. In Pittsburgh it was demonstrated that the romantic and Messianic undercurrent of Zionism has a vigor no less vital than the political and national surface of the movement. Of course, the momentous, world-events and the ascension of the curve of Socialism in all democratic countries stimulated and stirred the Messianic undercurrent of Zionism.

SOCIAL DEMOCRACY THE NEW BASIS OF ZIONISM

The Convention in Pittsburgh declared for a social democracy as the basis of the Jewish Commonwealth. In the idea of equality, irrespective of religion, race and. sex, is involved equal citizenship, woman suffrage and’ separation of Church and State. It shows a thorough assimilation _ of the principles of modern democracy. The economic and social program keeps in line with the program of every advanced socialist movement. The main features of the program are social ownership of the land, of all natural resources, and of the public .utilities, which can embrace not only the means of communication and transportation, but also different industries and enterprises of commerce. The agricultural, industrial, commercial and financial enterprises shall be based on the co-operative principle, while land speculation and financial oppression shall become impossible through a progressive tax system. If to these principles will be added the principle of minimum and maximum wages for all the employees in national, communal and co-operative enterprises, an approximated economic equality will be established and the last step to social democracy will be made. As the Convention decided also for free instruction in all grades and departments of education, it pronounced itself for the desirability of a higher education for everybody. In a co-operative commonwealth equal education must tend to exclude inequality of wages.

HEBREW AND THE "YIDDISHISTS"

The proclamation of Hebrew, the national Jewish language, as the medium of public instruction, was a necessary and reasonable step on the part of the Convention. This declaration for Hebrew touched the very heart of the Jewish People. There are comparatively very few among the Jews who are able to use the Hebrew as a living language, but there are very few who oppose Hebrew as the national language. Of course, there are a few Yiddishists, more among the Yiddish writers than the Yiddish readers, who claim for Yiddish in the name of democracy, the right of a national language. But the truth is that this claim for Yiddish is made not so much out of democracy, but because of a superficial and bloodless rationalism. A language with its mysterious individuality is the cultural sanctuary of a people, which cannot be thrown away and forgotten without the creative forces of the people becoming degenerated. In Hebrew was revealed the genius of Israel, in Hebrew it attained its culminating heights, and in Hebrew the thread of Jewish culture has been woven till today. The various dialects and jargons, which the Jews developed so often in their migratory history, had only a superficial and transitory importance in the national life. In spite of all its recently acquired literary merits, Yiddish is the language of the masses in their transitory state from medieval backwardness to modern culture. The Jewish permanent migration, from Russia to Poland, from Eastern Europe to America and other English speaking countries, is preserving Yiddish and Yiddish literature for a certain time among the masses and the “intellectuals.” But the disappearance of Yiddish is inevitable, just as the revival of Hebrew even in the countries of the Jewish Diaspora is acquiring more and more the intensity of reality.

THE DISTRICT PLAN A COROLLARY OF THE PITTSBURGH PROGRAM

The moment Zionism accepted social democracy as its program, the last shadow of opposition among the Jewish masses against Zionism faded away. Zionism can now extend itself over the whole of Jewry of America, and it was therefore a very reasonable step on the part of the Convention to rebuild the Zionist organization on the district plan. The society as the basis of the organization has under the new conditions become obsolete and unnecessary. The whole Jewish population in every district must be organized under the blue-white flag, and the Jewish district must finally become a Zionist district. That is the idea of the adopted district plan. After the Jewish Congress has become almost superfluous under the new conditions, the Zionist Organization must take over the heritage of the congress movement, as the re-establishment of Palestine and not civic equality for the Jews in Russia is now the paramount issue of Jewish policy. The district plan, which has been proven sucessful in the congress organization, can be no less successful in the Zionist movement.

UNION, NOT UNIFORMITY

The acceptance of the district plan as the new basis for the Zionist Organization does not mean, of course, the amalgamation of all the Jews or even all the Zionists into one party. The Zionist Organization can only embrace all the Jews for the one great purpose of the establishment of