A Fighter for the Diaspora and for Zion
When Gruenbaum found that his ' velopment of Zionism. With a
political plans were unrealistic, he million gulden a publicity ma zi
left for Palestine (1933), and in i chine could be established. Her
1948 he became Minister of the In- i, was prepared to give a third of
Old memories were revived i terior..Dr. Reich died in 1929 and the money if others could raise
, the remaining sum.
in 1936.
when I read Nella Hollander's Dr.
„ Thon
the way. please let me know I This was reported at a meeting
booklet, memories of a dramatic who By
Dr. Thon is?" inquired Theo ! of the "Jung Israel" without
clash which
of opinion
between
three dor Herzl
men.
took place
in Cracow
in a letter, Feb. 12, 1897, . Herzl's name being mentioned.
a Zionist friend.
Jehoshua
Thon came from Lem- Thon was captivated by the idea
over the "Ugoda".
and meditating upon the origin of
"Ugoda" was the name of an berg (March 13, 1870-Nov. 11, in
i
t ligi s unfe anin tail s ltiiu cn proposition itaxhozle‘d-
agreement, signed by the Polish 1936). studied at Berlin University ,
gulden, here
P sident Wladislaw Grabski and and at the Hochschule fuer die Wis- •
re
his brother, the Minister of Cul- senschaft des Judentums. He was , it could
only at emanate
from and
Herz'.
He wrote
once to him
sug-
hand. Stanislaw Grabski, on the one one of the founders of the society ' gested calling a conference. Herzl
hand. and by Jehoshua Thon and - Jung Israel". Within this circle. agreed. and Thon, in association
Leon Reich, on the other.
•
of some 30 members, which in . with Bambus and Ehrenpreis. irn-
Thousands clamored to hear the: eluded Markus Ehrenpreis. Leo mediately sent off the invitations.
three deputies of the Polish Sejm. • Motzkin, Heinrich Loewe, David . This conference took place in
(parliament), Yitzhak Gruenbaum, ' Neumark, Willi Bambus and Mar- • Vienna in March. 1897. About 10
stiff and unyielding. who advocated kus Braude, the necessity for the or 12 persons attended, but in-
political co-operation of the Jews colonization of Palestine and the , stead of dealing with a publishing
with the other national minorities revival of Hebrew was discussed.
house. it was decided—to call a
-- the Ukrainians, Germans and , In January, 1897, Herzl ex-
Zionist Congress. Thon was thus
White Russians. He was the ob- ■ Plained to a Zionist friend that a
instrumental in Herzl's undertaking
stinate supporter of a united front . daily paper and a publishing
the convening and preparations of
of the minorities and a fierce op- house were essential to the de-
the First Zionist Congress in Basle.
ponent of the "Ugoda". He pro-
And this remains Thon's greatest
voked and swayed the masses with
contribution to Zionist history.
his arguments.
I
Soon afterwards Thon becaine a
Leon Reich, benevolent. and
rabbi and preacher in Cracow and
c o ti r t e o U s , a realist-politician,
began attending the Zionist Con-
would have liked friendly relation Urges Congress gresses. He was elected to the
between Poles and Jews. With his
Polish Sejm and was a member of
audience he was amiable. but with I
the "Committee of Jewish Delega-
Gruenbaum ironic. But when the ,
tions" (Paris). Ile was also Presi-
masses became enraged with the ! BOSTON — Rabbi H a r v e y J. dent of the -Zionist Organilation of
differences and east igat ions of Fields of Temple Israel, Boston, West Galicia and Silesia. As a Zi-
both speakers. it was Jehoshua — in a statement issued this week, onist, he strove to amalgamate the
we called him Osias—who brought urged the abolition of the House ideas of Theodor Ilerzl and Ahad
the rhetorical battle to a close. Ile , Un-American Activities Commit- Ila'am-- to bring about a Zionist
calmed his audience with the ' tee.
"Ugoda". He wrote copiously. His ;
magic of his voice and words and ' Tracing the origin of the commit- essays appeared in IIerzl's weekly
with the charm of his personality, tee, questioning the validity of its "Die Welt", in his own daily No-
speaking firmly but kindly, like a purposes, Rabbi Fields lists major wy Dziennik" (Cracow) and in a
father to his unruly children. ; Jewish organizations which have number of Hebrew periodicals,
Cracow was his home and the Jews , joined in demands that the HUAC among them "Hashiloach" and
the children he had to shield. ; be abolished and declares that "so "Haolam" .
far the folly has persisted."
But neither - Ugoda" nor the ;- "As long as HUAC exists," he
Thousands of Jews looked for-
national minorities' front could
declares, "our national health is in ward to Friday's issue of the Yid-
achieve anything in anti-Semitic . danger . . . As long as it is per- dish daily "Hajnt" (Warsaw)
Poland. The birth of Poland was mitted to exist, the threat of witch- where they read — one could say
celebrated with pogroms. The hounding reminiscent of McCarthy- studied — the articles, written by
Jews were oppressed politically,
ism stands as a ghost waiting pa- Dr. Thon and other political and
economically and socially, Anti-
tiently for HUAC to revive it . . . spiritual Jewish leaders in Poland.
Semliism demoralized the peo- Over the past 21 years it has spent He awakened national pride in the
pie, including the minorities, millions of dollars, employed a vast hearts of Polish Jewry: by this he
paving the way for Hitler's de- staff and has accomplished nothing meant the collective heritage of
struction of the Jews. for our nation!"
past generations. Without national
pride great deeds could never he
achieved. Assimilation was the an
tithesis of national pride, to him
When Herzl first saw Thon, he
wrote: Dr. Thon appears to be a
gifted, still immature young,
modern theologian". Some years
later he was to become the pride
of Polish Jewry. Vienna had 'Zvi
Perez Chajes; Warsaw, Moses
Schorr; Stockholm, Markus Ehr-
"What is national freedom if not a
enpreis; and Cracow, Jehoshua
Thon.
people's inner freedom to cultivate its
David 1,Volffsohn was deeply
abilities along the beaten path of its his-
moved when Thon defended him
tory•• — Ahad Ha-Am
against the opposition at the 10th
Zionist Congress (1911) and — to
the loud applause of the delegates
— declared that "Wolffsohn not
only preserved the legacy of Herzl.
but had enhanced it". Nahum So-
kolow considered him one of the
How significant is this day, how inspiring the
finest preachers and one of the
idea of freedom and of staunch defense of one's
hest Hebrew writers. Chaim Weiz-
mann counted him among his loyal
faith !
friends and called him "Bishop
Thon". He always fought for the
rights of the Jews in the diaspora
This is the motivating thought for Hanuka,
just as he fought for Zion.
Nella Hollander is Dr. Thon's
the great festival of the Maccabees.
daughter. In her booklet she ana-
lyzes the political. Zionist and lit-
erary work of her father, as well
We celebrate the historic event to reaffirm
as his philosophy. She gives us
many hitherto unknown details of
loyalty to our faith, to hold fast to the love for
his life and of the "tragic fate of
freedom, to oppose tyranny, to pray that all man-
Professor Nathaniel Thon, the only
S on of my father".
kind may be spared the agonies of persecutions.
With this booklet, written thirty
years after his death, Nella Hol-
1 ander demonstrates her allegiance
May Hanuka bring joy to every Jewish house-
o her father's ideals. She con-
ludes ‘vith these moving words:
hold and to the entire world.
'This is all that I could do for
you. my father !" And like her
father, she has devoted a lifetime
to the interest of the Jews in the
Diaspora and to Zion.
The name of Jehoshua Thon
lives in our memories and in his-
tory. In Israel, too. In "Kefar Jeho-
shua", and in Tel Aviv and other
towns, there- are streets hearing
the name: rechov Dr. Jehoshua
Thon.
By JOSEF FRAENREL
Jewish News' London Correspondent
...tcho shua Thon: Preacher. Thinker,
Politician" by Nella Hollander (Mon-
ty,itteo„ 1966: 76 pp.)
16—Friday, December 9, 1966
Euromart Body to Start Talks With Israel
BRUSSELS (JTA)—The Council EEC. Israel has applied for
either
of Ministers of the European Eco- an associate status with the EEO
nomic Community, the policy-mak- or for a more comprehensive
ing body for the European Com- agreement than the present limit-
mon Market, decided Tuesday eve- ed one which expires -June 30.
nine to instruct an EEC commis-
Political sources here attached
sion to begin exploratory talks considerable importance
to the
with Israel.
council decision. They said
The Hallstein commission was seemed to prove that there was it
instructed to report back to the will among the six nations a
of
council on outstanding problems Euromart to further their associa-
faced by Israel in relation to the tion with Israel.
est Wishes for a
gleasant Wanuha
The Feast of Lights symbolizes adherence
to faith, courage in upholding our traditions
and in retaining our freedoms. Hanuka
manifests rejection of idolatry and oppres-
sion and emerges as the great event that
emphasizes justice for all. May it influence
mankind to uphold the high ideals of jus-
tice and righteousness.
Rabbi Fields
Abolish HUAC
j6tp p y gYariti A a t o
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Mr and Mrs. Abe [kIsie
tAll .1
Sioil iman gamily
1 .0
Jtra5 ■ 4 TeLacmph, AC.Dwf
The Menorah
remains among the great symbols of Jewish survival ...
It is the emblem of our unity because it lights the paths
of Jews everywhere, guiding them towards the inspira-
tions that are in evidence wherever there are Jews .
Young and old welcome the great Festival of Lights with
Joy, as a reminder of the glories of old, as an encourage-.
ment to all to hold aloft the banner of religious freedom
. May the Hanuka festival continue to provide courage
to Jews everywhere.
(-)7- Wcippy glanuAalt to all
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