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No. 2. Vienna, 9 January 1903 — 10 Tebeth 5663. 7th Year

Preface by M. L. Lilienblum to Dr. J. B. Sapir's Work on Zionism.

We print this article by M. L. Lilienblum, the justly celebrated Hebrew writer and one of the first champions of the Jewish national idea, which, though only the preface to a book yet to appear in German translation, is nevertheless of fundamental importance. We take this opportunity also to direct our readers' attention to Dr. J. B. Sapir's book on Zionism, which will shortly appear in German translation. The book gives an account of the theory and practice of the Zionist movement, as well as of its origins.

(Editor's note.)

The fate of the Zionist idea is quite as remarkable as the fate of Judaism itself. One would suppose that a people which began its life in the time of the most ancient Pharaohs; which was present at the downfall of all the peoples of antiquity, beginning with the ancient Hittites, who are mentioned only in the oldest writings, and ending with classical Rome; and which, moreover, has taken a strong part in the affairs of the whole world, not excepting the newest scientific inventions nor the Boer War; that a people whose members are actively at work over the whole globe, without leaving a single spot unoccupied; that a people whose spiritual quintessence — the Bible — has been translated into every language and dialect existing on our planet; in a word, that such a people, which fills the whole compass of time and place known to mankind, must needs be thoroughly explored and exactly known and understood by everyone. In truth, however, a non-Jew who knows the Jews is a rare exception. The Jew is feared, the Jew is hated, and he is charged even with crimes that exclude one another. To the question: What is the Jew? we often hear the most contradictory opinions, as for example: the Jew is a cosmopolitan and a nationalist in the narrowest sense of the word; the Jew is a great capitalist and at the same time a revolutionary; the Jew is a superstitious fanatic and a heretic; the Jew is a coward and a ritual murderer, and so forth.

If all this is in the highest degree remarkable, the relation of the majority of Jewry to the Zionist idea is no less so. That idea is as old as Israel itself. Notwithstanding that the conception of a people is in and of itself inseparable from the conception of its historic territory, the Zionist idea — that is to say, the belonging of Palestine to Israel — is, according to the Biblical narratives, in other words according to the very spirit of Judaism, even far older than the people itself. Fully 400 years before the forming of the Jewish people, Palestine was promised to the posterity of our progenitor Abraham. This promise was repeated from generation to generation down to Moses, is afterwards often mentioned by the Prophets, and served as a dogma of faith.

The hope of the fulfilment of this promise — that is, of the transformation of the Zionist idea into an accomplished fact — never forsook the Jewish people during the whole period of its wanderings. Daily in its prayers it besought God to hasten that time, and this expectation gave it the strength to endure its long and unparalleled martyrology. One would suppose that at the first call to realise this idea all Jews must at once grasp its meaning, be kindled by it, spread it abroad, and make it the aim of present-day Judaism. In truth, however, few Jews comprehend this idea fully, and not all pay it the respect that is its due. Many Jews actually fear it, stand in hostility towards it, and ascribe to Zionism two mutually exclusive tendencies — the reactionary-fanatical on the one hand and the heretical-antireligious on the other. At one and the same time Zionism is to some a mere chimera and to others a thing which, if realised, will bring Judaism to ruin.

It is clear, therefore, that the Zionist idea, notwithstanding its great age in theory and the practical activity of several years on the part of its disciples who labour for its realisation, is still not learned and understood. Many, unhappily, do not wish to understand it; some because in the continued existence