I
PAGE TWELVE
THE DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE
Jastrow Unable to See
Real Value of Homeland
The following is., to,lete of "Zionism
and the usury of 1',11..sttno," appearing
in a recent issue of the err York Turner.
The iitiffms of the hook is Prof. Morris
lastrote, Jr., Ph.D., LLD.. member of
the faculty of the University of l'ennsyl-
S'anill• It as been published by the
Macmillan Co.
Zionism in a subject which in MAW
receiving a great deal of attention
throughout the world. It has pro-
duced a very definite schism among
the Jews of America anti England;
this split was accentuated within the
last few days by an utterance
in the form of a resolution passed by
the Central Conference of American
rabbis, declaring opposition to the
establishment of a Jewish State in
Palestine and to the idea of creating
in Palestine a "homeland" fur the
Jewish people. The resolution stated
that "Israel is not a nation, but a re-
ligious community," and that 'Pales-
tine is not the homeland for the Jew-
ish people," that the whole world
"ought to be its homeland."
Dr. Morris Jastrow, prof e ssiir in
the University of Pennsylvania, has
recently issued a book on Zionism,
in which he sits forth religious, eco-
nomic and political phases of the sub-
ject. He attacks vigorously the cre-
ation of a Jewish State in Palestine,
and sustains his opposition with facts
and logic which seem conclusive.
In his chapter on the roots of mod-
ern Zionism he ascribes the persist-
iince of the sentiment to the condi-
tions prevailing throughout antiquity,
which always interpreted religion in
terms of nationality. Ile contrasts to
that view the modern view, which
looks upon religion as a concern of
the individual. Ile argues that in
antiquity every nation regarded itself
as a chosen people, singled out by
some deity as its very own. From
this point of view religion was neces-
sarily interpreted in terms of the
solidarity of the group; only those
who were Greeks could worship Greek
gods; no one could be a Greek citizen
who Was not a Greek by descent or
had become a Greek by intermarriage.
The same was true of the Romans:
No one could be a Roman citizen who
was not also a worshiper of the Ro-
man gods. Ile funds that the ancieni
Hebrews formed no exception to the
rule:
They had a national deity,
whom they called Yahweh, who
was their protector and whose
control was limited to the terri-
tory which the Hebrews could
call their own.
The survival in Judaism of the
early conception of religion, which
attached it closely to nationalistic
limitations, continued through the
ages after the dispersion, and is re-
garded by the writer as the root of
modern Zionism. Christianity itself
succumbed to the Zionistic ideal of
nationalism, becoming the official re-
ligion of Rome, linking the State uni-
versal with the church universal.
Citizenship was limited to an avowal
of a certain faith, which excluded the
Jews from participation in the polit-
ical life about them and kept alive the
longing, instinctive in humanity, for a
place where they cold worship as
citizens.
The era which followed the divorce
between Church and Stair threw
down some of the barriers excluding
non-conformists from citizenship, in-
cluding the Jews. Their political
emancipation was followed by an
ardent participation in the political
life of the countries in which they
lived, and as a natural consequence
the era of Reformed Judaism set in.
The author maintains that the ZiOn-
istie doctrine as part of the religion
lost its raison d'etrit when the Jr WA
became citizens of the country in
which they settled. The separation of
Church and State in countries that
had heretofore been Christian was
paralleled by the complete divorce be-
tween religion and nationality in Re-
formed Judaism.
Modern Zionism was an outcome of
deplorable persecution prevailing in
kussia and Rumania, which countries
have more than one-half of the
fifteen million Jews in the world. It
was among the Jews in these lands
who had no country that Zionism
quickly spread, being promoted by
the natural social instinct of man to
belong to some country. An anti-
Semitic Outbreak in Germany and
Austria influenced Theodor Ilerzl to
found political Zionism. Ile believed
that the Jews were regarded as a
separate entity, not because of their
religion but race, and the author
maintains that this interpretation
played directly into the hands of the
anti-Semitic movement. Herzl main-
tained that by organizing a Jewish
State the Jews would be in a posi-
tion to exercise pressure, backed by
diplomatic prestige to secure pro-
tection of the Jews living outside of
the proposed Jewish State.
Dr. Jastrow maintains that the
prejudice existing against the Jews
is essentially social and not religious.
In developing this thought he refers
to the fact that hostility to the Jews
can be traced back to the days of
Pharaoh, bettire the Jews were a
nation, and in Rome, after they had
ceased to be a nation. The Egyptians
disliked the Jews because they were
shepherds. The Romans looked upon
both Christians and Jews as radicals,
religious Bolsheriki. In fact, Roman
writers speaks of Jews and Christians
as atheists, because they did not be-
lieve in Jupiter. lie holds that dis-
like is the outgrowth of difference in
habits. Ile maintains that religious
opposition to the Jews did not arise
among the Christians until it had
become the State religion and the
State became intolerant of those who
did not accept the State faith.
The Jews ceased to be a nation in
the year 135 A. D, when the last
semblance of their national inde-
pendence was destroyed, and they
ceased to be a nationality when the
movement of immigration front
Palestine, which began at the close
of the 6th century B. C., left only
a small minority in that country.
Ile asserts that nationalistic move.
mews of the 10th century, such as
revived the Balkan nationalities,
which prompted the union of Italy,
which formed the United German
Empire, which restored the Polish
and Bohemian States, furnish no
anology for Zionism. None of these
nationalities ever ceased to be one
as Mil the Jews. The former had re-
mained nationalities despite some
immigration from their native lands.
Zionism, be maintains, arose as an
ameliorative measure. It did not
arise in Palestine, but outside of it.
Ile draws comparison between Zion-
ists and the Irish, holding that the
Irish never ceased to be a national-
ity, that they remained distinctively
Irish; but Palestine ,reased to be
Jewish a few centuries after the ex-
tinction of the national life of the
Jews. Today it is predominately
Arabic.
He holds that Zionism involves a
false reading of Jewish history dur-
ing the past 2,000 years; it rests on
a false interpretation. He follows
the history of the Jews, when their
national life ceased in 135 A. I).,
when the Jews split into two groups,
one following the teachings of the
Apostles, who gained the world for
the new religion, and those who re-
mained a separate group, holding
unyielding attachment to the rites
and ceremonies of Talmudic Judaism.
Ile argues that had the Jews re-
mained merely a nation they would
have disappeared as other nations of
antiquity upon the extinction of
their national vitality, as the Egyp-
tians, Babylonians, Phoenicians,
Moabites, Philistines, the Persians,
the II ittites.
Ile holds that Jews survive today
because of the strong bond that was
created through their becoming a re-
ligious people. When a nation, Jew-
ish Palestine never played any
notable part either in antiquity or
in later days. So long as they en-
joyed national independence, he ar-
gues, they made no contributions in
the field of art, science, govern-
ment of military strategy. Solomon
sent to Phoenicia for architects; the
temple was patterned after religious
structures of Phoenicia and Baby-
lonia. The intellectual activity of
the Jews came after their dispersion.
Their great philosophers arose in
Western Europe, and their eminence
in music, in literature and the
sciences developed centuries later,
following their political emancipation
in modern times.
He argues that the intermingling
of the Jews With their fellow-men
enabled them to render their greatest
share of service toward the advance-
ment of culture and civilization. He
believes that the Zionists are exer-
cising every energy to take a step
backward, when the whole world
seems bent on moving forward.
Palestine is today a land filled
with sacred association for the fol-
lowers of three great religions,
and cannot he said to belong
to any particular group. As a wor-
shipping place of Christianity it is
as sacred to Christians as to Jews.
Mohammed drew his inspiration from
the religions that arose in Palestine.
The author believes that the holding
of Palestine is as vital for the
Christians as it is for Jews; Beth-
lehem, Nazareth, Tiberias and the
Jordan are closely associated with
events in the life of Jesus. Moham-
medans revere, as do the Jews, the
sites associated with the figures of
the Old Testament, such as Abra-
ham, Jacob, Joseph, Rachael,
David, Solomon, Absalom, Job and
the Prophets. Mohammedans and
Christians have fought for the pos-
session of the land for centuries;
around the sacred spots churches and
chapels have been erected by Chris-
tians and by Mohammedans.
T h e Greek Church, the Roman
Catholic and the ProteStant are very
largely represented, and Christian
pilgrims from France. Spain and
Italy and other countries are con-
stantly passing through the land.
Almost ever y European country is
represented by the 150.000 Chris-
tians residing there. The Nlohant-
medan population of 500.000 repre-
sents all sections of the Islamic
world—Egypt, Arabia, Asia Minor,
Persia and Turklty. The predomi-
nating Arabic speaking population
are the direct descendants of those
who have been in possession of the
soil for many centuries.
Dr. Jastrow maintains that if there
is such a thing as a historical claim
to the land, the claim of the Ntoham-
medan natives of Palestine rests on
as substantial a basis as that of
either Jews or Christians, the Jewish
population being the smallest of all,
estimated at about 80.000.
The writer refers to the aniniosj-
ties which have sprung up amo8g
the three classes of the inhabitants
of modern Palestine which will flare
up anew if an attempt is made to
establish there a Jewish State; that
a genuine storm may be expected to
follow any serious attempt to carry
out the political movement of the
Zionists. It is against all the trend of
the ages.
He argues that it is of little avail
to give the assurance that the rights
and privileges of the Mohammedans
and Christians in Palestine will not
be interfered with. There will be a
general protest against the principle
of placing the control of a country in
the hands of any particular group,
and particularly a minority. The
very implication in the name, "Jew-
ish State," is that the government
would be organized on the bas is of
a single nationality and controlled
by that nationality. Even if the
State should be organized on the
basis of a divorce between religion
and the State, by sheer necessity a
Jewish State would present the
double aspect of religion and nation-
ality, which would mean a step back-
ward.
In his closing chapter Dr. Jastrow
discusses the tendency toward a
stablish
instantly in your
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