Contemporizing Jewish From Ararat to Zion—Mordechai Manuel Noah's Pioneering in U. S. Zionism 145 Years Ago Semitic voices were raised against By JOSEF FRAENKEL Some of the chief rabbis men- i on I n mer Educat A i ca The early prophetic forerun- the man who was again to play an tioned in Noah's proclamation pro- By ROBERT H. ARNOW President, American Association for Jewish Education; President, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (Copyright 1971, JTA, Inc.) The American Association for Jewish Education has been saying for a long time that Jewish educa- tion must be contemporized. The term, Contemporization, means not only an appropriate emphasis on current affairs as against an ob- session with the past; it means, especially, the recognition and utilization of current conditions and techniques for the enrichment of Jewish educational opportunities. Thus, for example, the opportuni- ties for travel are a relatively recent technical advance available for educational exploitation. College students go off to travel abroad, to see the art and architecture, -the people and places that have rever- berated in their textbooks and classrooms. So, too, Jewish students have the opportunity to travel and study in Israel, to visit Jewish communities abroad, even to visit large Jewish communities within the United States. For the first time the ease, speed, and relative economy of such study-travel, offers an unprecedent- ed opportunity for young Jews to learn about other Jews, to touch and talk with them, and in turn to be touched by them. Jewish peoplehood becomes a reality of experience rather than a social, political theory which is remote from the average young Jew. The mere skills of learning are aug- mented by the emotional attach- ments that are formed by such human contacts. This is a tangible example of what we have in mind when we speak of "the contempori- zation of Jewish education." In many communities of the country, Bureaus of Jewish Edu- cation, in cooperation with their local federations and welfare funds, plan, finance and subsi- size extended summer study trips. Contemporization also implies the utilization of the whole gamut of Jewish communal experience in open-school study. What happens to he is in the informal setting of a the child in a Jewish school when Jewish center, or in the club of - his synagogue? Are these programs planned as part of an integral whole in the development of Jewish identity? What happens when a Jewish adolescent attends a sum- mer camp under communal aus- pices? Do these camps build upon Jewish education, or are they an escape from, or denial of the ef- forts at Jewish learning? How is the Jewish community's involve- ment in social welfare, community relations, housing for the under- privileged, work with the disad- vantaged and retarded, related to what goes on in the formal Jewish school setting? Is their academic training, the emphasis on moral- ity and Jewish values, related to the planned work of the total Jewish community? This, too, is subsumed under contemporiza- tion, because it projects the class- room, the textbook and the ven- erable tomes into the daily life of young Jews. In few areas is this need for contemporization more evident than in the realm of secular studies in public high schools and universities. There has been an awakening to the realization that education in a free society should encourage knowledge of the cultural heritages of the com- ponent groups of this free society. On the secondary school level, such courses would help to correct the distorted picture of Jews which has so long been implicit in the history and social studies text- books of our schools. On the col- lege level, a wide variety of course offerings give Jew and Christian a balanced picture of the place of the Jewish heritage in the development of Western civilization. We have brought together a large cross-section of faculty, laymen and students in intensively func- tioning committees, to help define the meaning of Jewish studies, to outline course and subject ideas, to encourage and commission pub- lication, to help in recruitment and training, to promote the adoption of such courses in accordance with the highest academic stand- ards. All of this too, is part of contemporization, because it recog- nizes a unique current condition which can help generate greater Jewish educational efforts. A Conversation Series Released by: ner of modern Zionism appeared not in Odessa, Bonn or Vienna but in New York. He was not Russian, German or Austrian, but an Ameri- can whose father was Sephardi and his mother Ashkenazi. Years be- fore the publication of "Rome and Jerusalem" by Moses Hess (1862), "Auto-Emancipation" by Leon Pin- sker (1882) and "The Jewish State" by Theodor Herzl (1896), Mordechai Manuel Noah's writings and speeches engendered ideas that helped to guide Zionist history. Mordechai Manuel Noah (born July 19, 1785, in Philadelphia, died March 22, 1851, in New York) was brought up by his maternal grand- father to become — like his father — an American patriot and noble Jew. Like Theodor Herzl he studied law, was interested in the theater and turned to journalism. His plays were produced on the stage and his articles were published in vari- ous papers. He was a gifted orator, became involved in politics. learned to use pistols, once fought a duel. He was the editor of several papers. He refused nomination as American consul to Riga, but in 1813 he -accepted the appointment of consul to Tunisia with a special mission to Algeria. After some ad- ventures he arrived in Tunis where some 20,000 of the country's 60,000 Jewish population lived. They were confined to ghettoes (mellas), op- pressed, abused, forced to dress in black and pay a heavy tax. Wherever Noah stopped he noted the sad situation of the Jews. He himself also fell victim to anti-Semitism. After success- fully accomplishing a special mission. — the release of some Americans who were held in slavery in Algeria — he ex- perienced anti-Semitism from an unexpected quarter, not in the circle of the Bey of Tunisia but from Secretary of State James Monroe, who dismissed Noah as the American representative be- cause: "The religion which you profess would form an obstacle to the exercise of your Consular f unctions. " The administration was embar- rassed and tried to disclaim this statement. A few years later, when it was proposed that Noah became high sheriff of New York, anti- By Shlomo Kodesh TARBUTH FOUNDATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF HEBREW CULTURE influential role in the political life of America. He continued to pub- lish articles, edit papers and prop- agate tolerance. If an American Jew could be removed from his post because of his religion, how much worse was the situation of Jews in Europe and Africa? Russia was leading • in the maltreatment of Jews and position was tragic. In Germany the new "Hep-hep" move- ment (abbreviation for "Hierosol- yma eset perdita"—"Jerusalem is perished") encouraged incitement against the Jews. Noah became increasingly ab- sorbed in the Jewish problem. He believed in the return of the Jews to Jerusalem and in the restora- tion of the Jews to Eretz Israel. But until the Jews recovered their ancient land he wanted to create a shelter in America for Jews from countries of oppression. On Sept. 15, 1825, Noah issued a "Proclamation to the Jews" inviting them to come to "Ara- rat" which he intended to estab- lish on Grand Island, near Buf- falo. He asked the Jews, the Karaites, the Samaritans, the Jews of India and Africa and even the Indians "being in all probability the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel," to come to Ararat, "the city of refuge for the Jews." Noah described his plan in the proclamation. He also demanded that Jewish communi- ties collect annually "three shek- els" from each Jew to help emi- grants buy agricultural imple- ments and to "re-establish the Government of the Jewish Na- tion." He even appointed a few - chief rabbis and eminent Jews as an executive authorized "to aid and assist in carrying into effect the provision of this, my proclamation." A great number of people joined a colorful procession. The founda- tion stone for Ararat was laid. Noah read i to the gathering the "Proclamation to the Jews." And then a strange thing hap- pened: the world press, except for Russia, published reports, informa- tion and even the full text of the proclamation. For an hour or two the non-Jewish people listened to the appeal of Mordechai Manuel Noah that the Jews, notwithstand- ing that an :"asylum Ararat" was planned, should demand the return of the Holy City of Jerusalem and the re-establishment of a Jewish government. The London Times published the full text; of the proclamation — about 250 lines — and in its comment Noah was ironically call- ed "Mordechai Moses" instead of Mordechai Manuel. tested against his ideas: they were to become the "protest rabbis" of 1825. Seventy-two years, after the appearance of "The Jewish State" by Theodor Herzl, "protest rabbis" again denounced modern Zionism. In 1825 some considered Noah "crazy" and made fun of him. At that time, Jewish popula- tion of America numbered about 3,000, of whom 1,000 lived in New York. Twenty years later the Jewish population increased to 50,000. They came mainly from German-speaking countries, to settle in Ararat, but in "I and powerful America." Later the great Jewish immigration from countries of stress began. Noah, although disappointed with the Ararat project, continued his Zionist activities, and explained his views to the Jewish and non- Jewish public. The Jewish people must start to emancipate itself; the time for fulfillment of the pro- mises of the prophets was drawing near; political events in Syria, Egypt, Turkey and Russia would facilitate the return of the Jews to their Jerusalem: the Jews would purchase the land for the sum of $12-13,000,000,000 and the rightful possessors of Palestine would again unfurl the standard of Judah on Mount Zion. In 1892, Col. Albert E. W. Gold- smid, the "chief of the English Hovevei Zion," was persuaded by Baron de Hirsch to go to the Ar- gentine to take control of the baron's colonies. There he pre- pared the Jewish colonists for "their return to Palestine." Goldsmid used to say, "every- thing has a beginning, even the alphabet; it begins with A (Ar- gentine) and ends with Z (Zion). Noah's work began with A (Ara- rat) and ended with Z (Zion)." In his "Discourse on the Res- toration of the Jews" delivered at the Tabernacle on Oct. 28 and Dec. - 2, 1844, published with a map or - the Land of Israel (New York, 1845), Noah mentioned his letters to Thomas Jefferson, the author of - the "Declaration of American In dependence," and to President John Adams, and their sympathetic replies to his Zionist ideas. Noah opened the illustrious chapter of American Zionism, and Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were the first American Presidents to become Philo-Zionists, to be. follow,.- , ed by Woodrow Wilson and Hariy Truman, inscribed in golden letters'. in Zionist history. - - Mordechai Manuel Noah, the visionary, laid the foundation stone of Ararat — but he saw only Zion. SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST Cast: "He" and "She - . Scene: An Apartment. She: David, someone is ringin: the doorbell. PleaseIo and see , ho is there. Re: It was our mailman. He sti:s putting the mail in the matlbos in the hallway. .0C.) '73 I1i5i17 tsi; .r9x 11;T:1? ,1t et _He: Feminine logic! Well, there are both kinds. Tike :She: You arc making me curious. Datid. What hate you got Herr. for example, is a postal card from your sister, Zippora. She is She: Lovely! That's fine. The poor thing deserves a bit of a rest from all the commotion at home. What else' electricity and there would be a uhole mess. And the last letter you arc holding? This last one? As usual, the last is the best. - A reminder from the Income Tax Bureau. I haven't yet filed my income as report this year. They are demanding it urgentl. She: The last one is the best one - the. best one, indeed! It really touches one's heart. rt?? 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I don't know what you consider important. He: `70s» rir?? DT 101 .13'• ;IF 171 ;171 ;It :ton She: 'Is there anything important for us' She: IT'S A FACT .071r7 r1n ore :131,77:7 .t•1y1 ?on :0••pri1 cn,7 7'71:1 .3`;7 - pnrit3 There are more Jewish refugees in France then native Jews--- with more than 27,5,000 recent arrivals from North Africa. Man gy are assisted by the MC, with funds from the United Jewish Appe8i, Excerpted from the book "Israel With A Smile", published by Tarbuth Foundation, 515 Park Ave., N. Y. C. 10022 fc 48—Friday, August 6, 1971 -.■