A great deal of idealism, energy and capacity has gone to the making of the Zionist movement in its earlier and its more recent form. It would be outside the scope of a history of Zionism dealing mainly with England and France to attempt to do justice to the work of all those individuals—mostly Russian Jews—who have devoted themselves to the national revival, in Palestine or in the Diaspora. The purpose of this Appendix is to place on record the services of some of the most prominent workers (not mentioned in the text of this book) in the field of organization, of propaganda or of Palestinian colonization.
Young men of ability and studious habits founded the Bnei Zion Association at Moscow. This Society had indeed concentrated upon and developed most strongly the national and Zionist ideal. The position of the Moscow Bnei Zion was so conspicuous, because that organization was the headquarters of prominent Zionist workers who played a distinguished part in the national revival in Russia and in other countries. Among these the most active and important leaders were: E. W. Tschlenow, M. Ussischkin, J. Maze, A. Idelsohn, T. Brutzkus, B. Mintz, S. Mintz and M. Rabinovitz.
E. W. Tschlenow’s life of strenuous work was characterized by calmness and steadfastness on the one hand, and gentleness and high virtue on the other. Since his earliest youth he combined within him the noble spirit of idealism and great capacity for precise work. As a young student, he soon won his way to the foremost rank among the Chovevé Zion workers. The soundness and farsightedness of his views were remarkable. Simple but impressive as a writer, as well as platform orator, his generosity and devotion soon made him a favourite of the Bnei Zion, and brought him prominence as organizer, leader and orator. He graduated at the Moscow University in medicine, and distinguished himself, after further study at other universities abroad, in a special branch of his science. He then settled in Moscow. His successful medical career, however, never prevented him from devoting a considerable part of his time, and when necessary all of it, to useful Jewish public work in general, and to Zionism in particular. After his important and fruitful work in the Chovevé Zion movement he entered the Zionist Organization. He was in Palestine twice, not as a mere tourist but as an investigator. He wrote a great number of pamphlets, reports and articles, and a very good book against Territorialism (Zion and Africa, in Russian, 1903). His second journey to Palestine enabled him to increase his already extensive knowledge of colonization, and he laid down his observations and conclusions in another excellent work, which he wrote in Russian, and which has been translated into other European languages. The conspicuous service which he rendered amid formidable difficulties to the Jewish National Fund, of which he was the manager in Russia, his tact, his calm energy and his counsel were of inestimable value to the Zionist cause. After having been for many years a member of the Greater Actions Committee, he was elected at the Vienna Zionist Congress of 1913 a member of the Inner Actions Committee. He then gave up his brilliant medical career in Moscow to undertake a work of singular complexity and extreme heaviness. In this he won the same measure of confidence as that he enjoyed in Russia, and provided the most important personal link between the East and the West. In 1914 he was delegated, together with the author, for Zionist political work in this country; and he came here again in 1918 notwithstanding his failing health. During his brief but momentous excursus into the regions of politics and diplomacy he revealed the same high qualities which had elsewhere marked his mind and character. In consequence of his efforts, his health, which had some years ago been weakened, broke down, and his tragic death took place on the 31st of January, 1918, in London—the greatest loss Zionism has sustained since the death of Wolffsohn.
M. Ussischkin’s career as Chovevé Zionist and modern Zionist is unique as well as remarkable. In some respects, and in some quarters, his influence was far greater than that of anyone else. A strong, perhaps the strongest organizer, possessed of deep nationalistic convictions and of intense Jewish feeling, and endowed with the wonderful gift of being able to impress the masses, he succeeded in establishing a very high reputation when a mere student, and later on as one of the founders and leaders of the Bnei Zion, and subsequently among the Chovevé Zion leaders. He was also a founder of the Bilu. On his long visits to Palestine, in propaganda work for the purpose of raising funds for colonization, and throughout his whole long and fruitful career of nationalist work, he exhibited the most indefatigable activity and greatest courage. Having graduated at Moscow in Technology and Engineering, he settled in Ekaterinoslaw, where his strong, unbending personality, his power of leadership, and the general respect he commanded, soon brought him into prominence, and gained for him a high reputation in Russia, in Palestine, and elsewhere. The very strength of mind, energy, outspokenness and self-reliance, combined with inflexible determination and ardent zeal, distinguish his untiring efforts on behalf of the Zionist Organization. While others faltered and failed, he remained firm; while others despaired, he remained confident, and his zeal and perseverance gained for him the respect even of those who opposed some of his methods, while it increased the admiration in which he was held by many of his adherents. He greatly distinguished himself in his strenuous work for the Zionist financial institutions, and was also the most influential champion of the idea of immediate practical work in Palestine. His pamphlets on Palestine and the Zionist programme are written with admirable cleverness. He has lived now for some years in Odessa, where he is the Chairman of the Society for the promotion of Jewish colonization work in Palestine. Being Jewish Nationalist to the backbone, he naturally takes a great interest in the revival of the Hebrew language.
A. Idelsohn is the most modern and the most ingenious Zionist publicist in the Russian language. His influence has been underestimated rather than justly appreciated. While, on the one hand, the pathetic devotion and enthusiasm of others are undoubtedly most useful and indispensable conditions for the success of the movement, an analytical mind, as a temporizing element and corrective, is of no less importance. This mind was devoted to the cause by Idelsohn since his youth, and found expression in his writings in the Zionist organ, written in the Russian language, its name being Razswiet and Ievreiskaiu Shisn. A critic, and a somewhat ironical thinker, he never permits an emotional effort to mar his clear intellectual discrimination. In later years he formed, with M. A. Soloveitschik, A. Goldstein, J. Klebanow, A. Seidemann, M. Aleinikow, D. Pasmanik, S. J. Janowski, J. Brutzkus, Ch. Grinberg, J. Eljaschew, I. Gruenbaum, and others who comprised the editorial staff of his paper, a brilliant ensemble of Zionist intellectuals which has recently been augmented by L. Jaffe, who sometimes acted as editor. Idelsohn is an eminent Zionist and a member of the Actions Committee.
Julius Brutzkus was an active and highly appreciated member of the Bnei Zion. Most gifted and learned, with a clear mind, and generally well informed, he adhered to the national idea from early youth. He graduated in medicine at the Moscow University, and settled for some years in Petrograd, where he became active in matters communal, literary and journalistic. He wrote several excellent articles and pamphlets.
The two Mintzs were also appreciated for their faithfulness, sincere devotion, and excellent and tactful propaganda. B. Mintz has since settled at Rostow, where he takes a leading part in Zionist work. S. Mintz graduated at Moscow in medicine and settled in Warsaw, where he attained a high reputation in his profession as well as in communal activity. A sincere Nationalist, of a serious and studious turn of mind, deeply attached to Zionism, an excellent Hebraist, most active in all movements making for the revival of the national language, he has remained true to Bnei Zion traditions. There are, further, the zealous Alperin, and Michael Rabinovitch, resident at Rostow, a distinguished Zionist worker who was member of the Actions Committee.
The great earnestness and untiring assiduity of the Bnei Zion did not fail to attract attention and to produce a deep impression. The immense zeal for this cause dispelled the apathy of those around them. Thus the Moscow Chovevé Zion and Zionist Group became indeed one of the best, the most esteemed and the most active in the world. Of those in touch with the first pioneers was Kalonimos Wolf Wissotski (1824–1904), the well-known Chovev Zion and Zionist, a zealous supporter of the colonization of Palestine, a generous friend of Hebrew literature, a patron of learning and learned men. The representatives of his great firm have to the present day remained faithful to the traditions of the founder in a most liberal-minded and far-reaching manner.
The following names are arranged in alphabetical order.
Elieser Ben-Jehuda, born in Russia, is a prominent representative of the revival of the Hebrew language and of the national renaissance. As early as 1880 he expounded his political views on Zionism in Smolenskin’s monthly Ha’shachar. In 1881 he went to Palestine, where he became a sturdy and independent fighter for Hebrew as a living tongue and for Jewish nationalism. In 1885 he founded the Hebrew weekly paper Ha’zevi, which he edited for several years, assisted by his wife (Hemda) and his son. Together they formed the first Hebrew-speaking family in the country. He has revolutionized Hebrew style and introduced many new colloquial and journalistic expressions. As a pioneer of modern methods, radically opposed to the old ways of thought and action, he defended his heterodox ideas with energy, became involved in controversies, and was arrested by the Ottoman authorities for his nationalistic propaganda. Many years ago he started the publication of his great Hebrew dictionary (Millon). He was one of the first Palestine Zionists who approached Herzl and devoted themselves to Zionist propaganda in Palestine.