The Maccabaean

(Copyright by the Author)

NO thinking Zionist shuts his eyes to the fact that the national renascence of the Jews in a Palestinian polity of their own is bristling with all kinds of problems. Perhaps the most delicate of all, because of the international issues it raises, is that of our relation to the divers religions we encounter in the country which to all of them is the Holy Land and in which they all claim preponderance and a privileged situation.

We have also our inner-Jewish religious question. Orthodox and freethinkers, rigid observers of the traditional rites and latitudinarians stand in irreconcilable opposition to each other. This is deplorable enough in the diaspora, but there it takes a practical importance only in congregational elections and in occasional struggles for the control of associations, institutions, foundations and schools. In Palestine, if frivolously handled, it might have much more serious consequences. The religious camps will become political parties, each of them striving for domination. The modern, secular section of the community will insist on a clear separation of the State and the Synagogue, while the conservative will do all in its power to establish the commonwealth on religious or, more exactly, on hierarchical lines and to make the Shulhan Aruch the fundamental law of the State. Concessions of principle are not to be expected from either side, and mere disdainful toleration could be irritating. We must therefore loyally agree to differ, never stir up dogmatical discussions among us, meet unreservedly on the common national ground and do there together all the practical work of the hour, always treating each other mutually in a spirit of charity and with fraternal feelings. I limit myself to these succinct indications, not having the intention to treat the matter this time with the ample developments it requires. I wish to limit myself to dealing with the question of our relations with the other religions in Palestine.

The position we are to take up towards the Mohammedans forms part of the Arab problem, to my mind its easiest and most harmless part. Islam is not a proselytizing faith, at least in countries ruled by non-Mohammedans, and Judaism is, if possible, even less so. These two religions can easily co-exist without ever finding a reason to enter into a conflict. The Muftis and Imams do not pretend to secular influence, least so with those whom they consider infidels, and they have no propensity for interfering with the public administration. The faithful Moslems can accomplish all their ceremonies, fulfill all their religious duties, live according to their spiritual law, without the outsiders even noticing it, unless he be an attentive observer and student of customs and manners. It will cost us neither an effort nor impose on us a sacrifice to surround their places of worship with the respect due to them. So there is no likelihood that the Mohammedans should ever have to complain of us or we of them on religious grounds. If discontent and hostility were to manifest itself, it could only be the outcome of political, of national agitation, and this is another chapter of the future Palestinian life.

With the Greek orthodox Church we may also confidently anticipate relations of peace and mutual good will. The Patriarch occupies a great situation in Jerusalem and his authority is sovereign among his people. For generations past the Patriarchate has not been guilty of blamable, overweaning or unseemly desire for power. It has never deliberately overstepped the limits of its legitimate sphere of influence, or displayed a fighting spirit, and it has shown active energy only in the defense of its rights against attempts at encroachment on the part of other confessions. As long as it was backed by Russia it sometimes gave trouble to the Turkish administration, which had to learn that it was dangerous to vent its whims on the Patriarchate or to deal in its accustomed high-handed manner with the orthodox Church and its religious interests. But after the destruction of the Russian Empire there is not even a temptation for the Patriarch to appeal to foreign intervention against any act of the territorial administration, and, moreover, there would be no occasion for it, as British authorities are not in the habit of proceeding arbitrarily, and as we Jews are sure to entertain always the most courteous relations with and show high consideration for an ecclesiastical authority which keeps within its legitimate attributions, and, besides, is animated by that sympathetic disposition which the Greek Patriarchate has shown towards us ever since the Balfour declaration has brought our establishment within sight.

Unfortunately, it is to be feared that the Roman Catholic Church may become a more troublesome neighbor in the Holy Land. In spite of some lukewarm utterances of two Popes, there is no doubt, to our deep regret, that in the highest regions of Catholicism, Zionism, its aims and its present prospects are not looked upon with favor. Leo XIII received Herzl amiably and gave him graciously to understand that the Church was inclined to consider the return of the Jews to Palestine as a happy and, indeed, desirable event, as according to the prophecies of Holy Writ this had to be the preliminary condition of their opening finally their eyes and souls to the light of divine truth, which, from the unctuous metaphorical language of a sermon translated into plain speech, means: "By all means, go to Palestine in order to convert yourselves there into Christians, an act which should have been accomplished when the Saviour appeared in your midst, but which to your incalculable detriment you have stubbornly delayed for nearly two thousand years." Benedict XV granted Monsieur Sokolow an audience and honored him with a few kind words, the tenor of which seems to have been that he had no objection to our settling in the land of our fathers. As far as I know, His Holiness avoided even a remote allusion to a homestead for the Jewish people, let alone to a Jewish State in Palestine.

In less exalted regions of the Catholic Church we encounter a very different spirit. Recognized organs of the Vatican and papers of a confessional hue in all countries with a Catholic population, obeying obviously a watchword given out to them, improve on every opportunity to dis-