The Revival of Jewish Culture
THE cultural revival in Palestine is plainly apparent in the excellent work of the Bezalel,[33] the school of arts and crafts in Jerusalem, named after the builder of the first tabernacle in the wilderness, where are devised carpentry, copperware, wood-carving, basketry, painting, and sculpture "of cunning workmanship" and of distinctly Hebraic design. Another sign of great hope springs from the widespread revival of ancient Hebrew as a living tongue, which has become an awkward necessity among the older Jews gathered from many different nations, and the free and natural expression of the children. Several weeklies and monthlies are published in Hebrew.[34] A National Jewish Library, soon to be housed in a fireproof building at Jerusalem, was founded by Dr. Joseph Chazanowicz, a Zionist leader in Russia, who devoted his entire income to it. In 1910 the Library contained something over 15,000 volumes.[35] Finally, the Eleventh Congress (1913), convened on the 2,500th anniversary of the destruction of the old temple on Mount Moriah, witnessed the pledging of $100,000 to the building of a Jewish National University at Jerusalem—a new temple of culture and science.[36]
Precisely as the roots are more important than the blossoms in the growth of a plant, the accomplishments without Palestine are more significant than within. To-day the Golus (Diaspora) is the root, and Palestine the stalk; some day the Zionists hope to reverse the simile—this, in short, is the essence of the entire movement.
The Accomplishments of Zionism Beyond Palestine
ZIONISM'S chief aims without Palestine are two: (1) Revival of national consciousness, (2) Relief of the persecuted. In regard to the second, the Zionist organization, constantly working to shift emigration from West to East, has in a measure focused it upon Palestine; and more important, it is rapidly perfecting adequate machinery, which once securing the motive power of money in such quantities as is now devoted to the Jewish Colonization Association, will appreciably lessen the gravity of the Jewish problem.
In regard to the awakening of the national consciousness, the Zionist societies, which number in the thousands, constitute centers for the dissemination of propaganda and the stimulation of study in all things Jewish; and the Zionist press, comprising one hundred newspapers and periodicals, the official of which is Die Welt, and the leading American representative, The Maccabaean, materially aid this preaching of Zion gospel. Under the stimulus of the movement, numerous student societies have sprung up abroad, promoting and crystallizing a national sentiment and a race interest, while older societies of this order, such as the Kadimah, have received a renewed impetus. Women's societies of a literary, educational, and social character—the Benoth Zion (Sofia and New York) and the Hadassah (Vienna and New York) for example—have taken a place in the general revival.[37]
The effect of Zionism in large centers of population is ably shown by Charles S. Bernheimer in his study of the Russian Jew in the United States, and his findings may be taken as typical. In general, the Zionist societies have formed the chief social centers of the ghetto,[38] have opened religious schools[39] and libraries,[40] have brought the radicals in religion under the influence of the national idea,[41] and so prevented the loss of religion from being followed by a loss of race-consciousness, and have "enlisted the sympathies of the older people. The young people have grasped the great significance of Zionism, and have taken a renewed interest in religion, education, and culture."[42]
A renaissance of art is following that of culture; in painting Ephraim Lilien, Lesser Ury, Judah Epstein, and Hermann Struck, and in marble and bronze Boris Schatz (the founder and director of Bezalel), Frederick Beer, and Alfred Nossig are receiving their inspiration from Zionism.
The primary enthusiasm for the movement has long ago been expended; and the present interest is deep, healthy, and likely to abide. However, the sustainment of this interest appears to be the primary duty and task of Zionism; in a movement that is a long, dull, slow pull, every moment is a critical moment.