In opening the proceedings of the final day of the Congress, Herzl announced that several letters and telegrams had been received. The only one he would mention was that sent by the Rev. Dr. Moses Gaster, Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in England, who wrote to express his sympathy with the objects of the Congress.
CHAPTER XLIX.
THE MOTIVE FORCES OF ZIONISM
Modern Hebrew literature—The Chovevé Zion—The pioneers in Palestine.
Thus the Zionist Movement was launched. Before we follow its progress during the intervening twenty years, it will be as well to give some account of the forces at work in Jewish life which made the movement and its success possible. For Zionism cannot be properly understood if it is regarded merely as a result of certain political combinations or as a reaction against anti-Semitism. It must be traced to its roots, which lie deep in the national consciousness of the Jewish people; and that national consciousness is not simply a vague sentiment, but has long had its concrete expressions in connection with the revival of Palestine and of the Hebrew language. The inner history of Zionism, then, is to be traced along the lines of Palestinian colonization and the Hebrew renascence. For convenience we may divide our brief survey into three main headings:
1. Modern Hebrew Literature.
2. The Chovevé Zion and University Zionist Groups in various countries.
3. The pioneers of the Hebrew Revival in Palestine.
It must be remembered, however, that these are not watertight divisions, and we naturally meet with the same men in different fields of work.
The aim of the present chapter is to trace the development of each of these three forces (so far as that has not been done in earlier chapters), giving some account of the outstanding figures in each department. There is in each field a host of less distinguished but not less devoted workers. Of some of these mention is made in Appendix lxxv.