Rabbi Samuel Mohilever (1827–1903), of Bialystok, wrote many appeals in favour of the Chovevé Zion movement. He was a lifelong adherent of the national cause, helped to promote colonization, and gave his unqualified adherence to the new Zionism. Even in very advanced age he was still a fighter in the forefront, travelling, preaching, collecting funds and generously spending his own means. At the outbreak of the pogroms in 1881, he took the Jewish refugees to Lemberg. Here he became acquainted with Sir Samuel Montagu (afterwards Lord Swaythling) and Laurence Oliphant, and he sought to win the former for the Palestinian colonization movement. On his return to Russia he called a conference at Warsaw and formed a Chovevé Zion Society. In the same year he undertook a journey to Paris to obtain, through the Grand Rabbin Zadoc Kahn and M. Erlanger, Baron Edmond de Rothschild’s support for the colonization movement. Returning again to Russia, he went on a propaganda tour, agitating in several towns in favour of Palestinian colonization. In 1885 he presided at the Kattowitz Conference. In 1890 he journeyed to the Palestinian colonies and witnessed the founding of the colony of Rechoboth.
Leo Motzkin was born in Russia and educated in Berlin. His intellectual versatility made him a leading personality in student circles and Jewish societies, particularly in the Zionist Organization. He soon attracted attention at the Congresses, and was delegated to proceed to Palestine and inquire into the condition of the colonies, on which he prepared a report. As a member of the Actions Committee, he took part in 1914 in a Commission consisting of Zionists appointed to inquire into the state of affairs in Palestine. He has also written valuable books and pamphlets on the Russo-Jewish problem.
Isaac Nissenbaum, born in Russia, lives in Warsaw, where he was one of the sub-editors of Ha’zefirah and a lecturer at the Zionist Synagogue. Though not a Rabbi, he belongs by virtue of his education, associations and the nature of his occupation to the Rabbinical world. A learned Talmudist, a powerful preacher and a prolific Hebrew writer, he has a worthy record in all these spheres.
Alfred Nossig, scientist, artist and journalist, was one of the first, perhaps the first in Galicia, to publish pamphlets in Polish in defence of Jewish nationalism. He has pursued a line of his own in Zionism, and from the point of view of the Zionist Organization his activities have often been open to criticism. But he deserves recognition, both as a man of letters and as a strenuous advocate of Palestinian colonization.
Daniel Pasmanik is a Russian Zionist who has done much propaganda work and proved himself a writer and journalist of extraordinary capability. His book Die Seele Israels (written in Russian and translated into German) is a noteworthy contribution to Zionist thought.
Jehiel Michael Pines (1842–1912), born and educated in Russia, a Hebrew writer and Talmudist, was elected delegate to a conference held in London by the Association Mazkereth Mosheh for the establishment of charitable institutions in Palestine in commemoration of the name of Sir Moses Montefiore; in 1878 he was sent to Jerusalem to establish and organize such institutions. Thenceforward he lived in Palestine, working for the welfare of the Jewish community and interesting himself in the organization of Jewish colonies. In his Hebrew book, Yalde Ruchi, and particularly in Part I., Rib Ami (Mainz, 1872), he expounded the Jewish national idea. He was a contributor to all Hebrew periodical publications, especially to those in Palestine.
Samuel Poznanski pursued his studies at Berlin, and was already, as a young man, a rising representative of the Hebrew Revival. Having graduated, he returned to Poland, where he is now the Rabbi and Preacher of the Great Synagogue at Warsaw. His achievements in the field of Jewish scholarship are great and universally recognized. He has written many valuable books and treatises, all of which are the result of careful observation and patient study, and are distinguished by depth of thought. A devoted Hebraist, he contributes to Hebrew literature and the Press, and as a communal worker he has succeeded in counteracting destructive assimilationist tendencies by the advocacy of a sound traditional nationalism.
Rabbi Samuel Jacob Rabbinowitch, of Sopotkin (now in Liverpool), was first a Chovev Zion and early joined the Zionist Organization. His calm piety and gentle nature won him the hearts of all Zionists. He was for several years a member of the Zionist Actions Committee. He contributed a number of articles to Ha’melitz, which later were published under the title Ha’dat Weha’leumit (Warsaw, 1900). He has also written talmudic works.
Rabbi Isaac Jacob Reines (1839–1915) was a great talmudic authority, author of halachic works, in which he taught the rigid application of logic to the solution of talmudic problems, and founder and principal of a modern Yeshivah (Rabbinical College) in Lida. He was an ardent Chovev Zion, and joined the Zionist movement, in which he became one of the most prominent workers, orators and propagandists. He occupied a high and influential position in orthodox Zionism, and was the founder of the orthodox Zionist section, Misrachi.
Rabbi Pinchas Rosowski, a great talmudic scholar and prominent Hebraist, was an enthusiastic Chovev Zion, and later a member of the Zionist Organization. He wrote articles inspired by the nationalist idea.