For instance, Sir John Gray Hill of Liverpool, who had an intimate and direct knowledge of Palestine, where he used to spend his holidays for many years, and whose reflections and observations were of great value, gave in his address, delivered to the Liverpool Jewish Literary Society, on the 30th of November, 1913, a detailed analysis of the work to be done in Palestine. While admitting that exaggerated hopes were liable to strong objections and indicating the existing limitations, he said: “What you can do is to afford a refuge in Palestine to large numbers of persecuted Jews, and you can teach them to cultivate the soil, and to practise various arts and crafts so as to maintain themselves in the home of their fathers. Now I think it is very important that the English Jews should take a lead in this endeavour, because the English Jews are the leaders in thought, in position and in common sense, and have a calm way of looking at things.” He opposed the most erroneous and absurd idea of a contradiction between Jewish racial self-consciousness and English patriotism. “I am told that there is some feeling amongst the English Jews of there being a want of patriotism in interesting themselves in the Holy Land. That I do not understand. A Scotchman is a Scotchman, full of love for his own land and his own customs, poetry and song, but he is a Briton; so of a Welshman; so of an Irishman; so of a Devonshire man; so of a Lancashire man; we cherish these special local feelings, these feelings of local pride, and yet we remain true to the Great Empire to which we belong.” He offered a suggestion about travelling to Palestine.
“Now the leading Jews in England cannot, of course, go to live in Palestine altogether, but they might visit the country; and those who can afford the time might pass a portion of the year there, and, I think, if they did so they would find an immense interest in the country, and would be able to help their poorer brethren far better than they can by remaining at a distance from it. Travel, open, open your mind, travel to the Holy Land and see the great vision of what the past did for us, that amazingly interesting country, without seeing which I think it is extremely difficult to understand in a full and proper way the meaning of the Bible; at any rate, the sights of that land throw an immense deal of light upon it. Then there is another reason. Englishmen are very much respected in Palestine; they are thought more highly of than people of any other nation. One reason is, that it is known that England is not seeking to exploit the country; England does not seek for greedy concessions, and Englishmen, so far as they have to do with the natives, always treat them considerately and kindly, and, I think, the natives believe that whether the Englishmen are going the right way about it or not, they are trying to help the native to help himself.”
Here he struck a note which might have seemed new to him as a spectator appealing to English Jews. In the Zionist literature and Press this idea has frequently been expressed. Indeed, Palestine is still the land of poetry and enthusiasm, but it has ceased to be that of mystery; and though only the fame of its natural beauty has hitherto reached Western Europe, travellers who have recently visited Palestine have learned to appreciate the progress of this country in colonization. If anybody has hailed with enthusiasm the rising of this new star in the East on account of its brilliancy, beauty and poetical supremacy, he could discover on a visit to the country those pioneers of vigorous frame, with eagle eyes and well-formed, combining the sternness of the present with the subtlety of the intellectual and the simplicity of the child. The best means of becoming a Zionist is—a visit to Palestine. Sir Moses Montefiore was the first European Jew who visited Palestine as a tourist and philanthropist, and he was an English Jew. That was a great traditional example for English Jewry.
Sir John Gray Hill emphasized the importance of the Zionist Jerusalem University scheme: “Now I have to speak of the proposal to have a University in Jerusalem. That is a proposal, I think, in which all Jews might join. Any objection or feeling of apathy that there is on the part of Jews for any reason against Zionism generally, cannot apply to a Jewish University. You want a centre of Jewish culture and instruction in Jerusalem. The Vienna Congress recently started the scheme thoroughly by a good subscription. You would, of course, teach Hebrew, thus preserving the purity of your language, and you would also, I hope, teach medicine, arts and crafts, agriculture and horticulture. Cannot you attract the attention of some very wealthy Jews to this great project? Whatever objections they have to Zionist projects generally cannot possibly apply to this. What a noble monument it would be to a millionaire, or group of millionaires—those mighty kings of finance who are so powerful in Europe—to erect and endow a splendid University for the Hebrew race. If they were appealed to they would, I think, listen. Surely they would not take for their motto the injunction addressed by the followers of Solomon to the Bride from Tyre: ‘Forget also thine own people and thy father’s house.’ No, that cannot be; I think if the matter is properly represented to them a response will come. I believe, also, that a true and wise view of Zionism is growing in force. The cause is moving at last. The long period of slack water has ended. The tide has turned, although we may not yet see that it has done so.
‘For while the tired waves vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain;
Far back through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent flooding in the main.’”
On the other hand, an appreciation of the moral and religious value of the Zionist movement may be quoted. Speaking at a Zionist meeting in 1914, in Cincinnati, the late Professor Solomon Schechter said: “Zionism is now a living fact. We must have Zionism, if we want Judaism, orthodox or reform, to continue to exist. Judaism is at the present time in a very weak condition, not only in America, but also in Europe. The Jew cannot live in his own atmosphere, he is compelled to breathe the spirit of other religions.... The question then arises: What is it that can preserve the Jewish people? [♦]How can Judaism be saved from complete annihilation? Jewish history tells us that the Hellenist Jews who settled in Alexandria and other places remained loyal to Judaism, although they had been excellent Greek citizens.... But after the destruction of the Temple, these Hellenist Jews became completely submerged by the Greeks, and nothing remained of their Judaism. That,” said Professor Schechter in conclusion, “was why Jews must have at the present time the Zionist movement. Zionism could effect for the Jew a change in his material life, and it could also create for him a Jewish atmosphere, in which he could breathe freely his religion.” It is worthy of note that the late Professor Schechter did not join the Zionist movement during the first years of its existence, but was then opposed to it. Being, however, unlike the Bourbons, who are said to have learned nothing, and having realized the wonderful effects of this movement as far as the revival of Judaism was concerned, he became in the last years of his life a faithful Zionist. This was the logic of a progressive mind.
[♦] “Now” replaced with “How”